Sarina Shire Council and Mackay City Council recently signed an agreement to share water supply infrastructure. The agreement ensures Sarina will have a secure water supply, meeting the needs associated with its growth and development over the next 25 years.
Treated water will be pumped to Sarina via a new pipeline between the treatment plant in Mackay and Alligator Creek in Sarina.
Sarina Shire Mayor, Councillor Kevin Morgan, said the project is an example of how Local Governments can benefit from regional collaboration.
“Sarina and Mackay are meeting the objectives set out by the Local Government Association of Queensland’s Size Shape and Sustainability initiative,” he said. “Sarina has undertaken an extensive planning process to identify an additional water source that will provide the best value for money to ratepayers.
“Other options that were investigated as part of this planning process include connection to the SunWater irrigation network, shared infrastructure with local industry, increasing capacity to collect and store surface water, and identification of additional groundwater sources.”
A considerable amount of work is still required before water can be supplied from Mackay to Sarina. As part of the next phase of the project, Sarina will seek capital subsidy funding from the State Government. It is anticipated that work on the pipeline will begin in April 2007.
