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FAQs
Where does the water in Lake
Awoonga come from?
Run-off water from the nearby
hills and mountains flows down into the Boyne River which
eventually feeds into Lake Awoonga. The catchment area
contributing to the lake is 2,240 square kilometers and is
surrounded by the Boyne, Dawes and Many Peaks Ranges.
What area does the catchment
service?
The Gladstone
Area Water Board (GAWB) provides water to Gladstone, Calliope,
Boyne Island, Tannum Sands, Benaraby and Mt Larcom. GAWB
also supplies water to CS Energy - Callide Power Station at
Biloela and various industries in the region.
What is the
highest level the waters in Lake Awoonga have reached?
GAWB had raised the dam to 40m above
sea level in 2002 and the drought that had commenced in 1996/97
eventually broke in February 2003 with 600mm of rain falling
mainly over four days from a rain depression resulting from
cyclone Beni. This raised the water level to 34.96m above sea
level which was 62.31% of capacity. Further rainfall and inflows
to
Lake Awoonga raised the water to its highest level on 4 March
2004.
The water levels in the lake reached 36.94m above sea level
which was 75.63% of capacity.
What is the lowest level Lake
Awoonga has reached?
After the dam was raised to 40m in
2002, the region was still in the grips of a severe drought.
In April 2002 GAWB implemented the Drought Management Plan which
required restrictions on water consumption. Before rain from
Cyclone Beni relieved the drought levels in February 2003, Lake
Awoonga reached a level of 20.84m above sea level which was
7.44% of capacity or 57,803 megalitres (a megalitre is one
million litres).
How much
water is consumed in the Gladstone region?
Information on total water
provided by GAWB is contained in the Annual Report on our
background - publications page.
For specific information on
water supplied to households, you will need to contact your
local council.
Historically, how has water consumption changed in the
Gladstone region?
Since 1978, consumption of
water in Gladstone has more than trebled. The increase in
demand for water has come about because more industries have
developed in the region, and because of the resulting
increase in workforce/population.
How is
water supplied to consumers?
The Awoonga Pump Station
pumps water from Lake Awoonga at a rate of up to 3,000
litres per second. The water is carried to Gladstone through
a series of pipelines, ranging in diameter from 700mm to
1440mm.
There are more than 200km
of pipelines that carry water to various destinations in the
region. This includes 147km of pipelines to carry raw or
untreated water to customers and the water treatment
plants. There is an additional 58km of pipelines that carry
treated water to Gladstone City Council, Calliope Shire
Council and other industrial customers.
What
are the storage facilities in the Gladstone region?
Awoonga Dam is the only
permanent storage for water in the Gladstone region.
Awoonga dam is a 40m wall (above sea level) which was
erected in two stages, to hold back water in the Boyne
River.
The surface
area of the lake at its full capacity of 40m is 6,750ha. It
has a capacity of 777,000 megalitres. There
are various reservoirs around the region which hold water on
a temporary basis to balance pumping loads across the day.
GAWB owns two
reservoirs which hold a total of 116 megalitres of raw water
(1 x 50,000 megalitres and 1 x 66,000 megalitres.)
What is
a pump station?
A pump station is a
building that holds the pumps that pushes the water through
the pipelines.
What
is a water treatment plant?
A water treatment plant is
a facility that cleans and disinfects water and there are
two water treatment plants in the Gladstone region. Water
taken straight from Awoonga dam is not suitable to drink.
It may contain water creatures, insects, algae, leaves
and other matter, therefore the water has to treated to make
it safe to drink.
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