A parliamentary question regarding the Water Corporation-owned dam at Grass Patch and its availability for livestock water, revealing it's not used for drinking water due to quality issues and access is limited due to low water levels.

AnsweredQoN 1324Legislative Council
Asked
19 November 2019
Portfolio
Water

QuestionView source ↗

WATER CORPORATION —
GRASS PATCH DAM
1324. Hon COLIN de GRUSSA to the minister representing the
Minister for Water:
I refer to the Water Corporation–owned
dam at Grass Patch, which has been closed to farmers wanting to access
livestock water.
(1) Is this dam used to provide
drinking water for the Grass Patch community?
(2) If no to (1), why not?
(3) Will access
to this dam become available to provide supplementary stock water for farmers
whose own dams are dry or will become dry in the very near future?
(4) Who assesses the water available
in the dam, and what is the method used to assess?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the member for the
question. The Minister for Water has provided the following answer.
(1) No.
(2) The Water
Corporation carts water to Grass Patch for drinking water because the local dam
no longer meets the quality standards required for supply of drinking water by
the Water Corporation.
(3) Water from
the old Grass Patch town dam was made available to the community to use as
stock water earlier this year; however, this ceased once the water level in the
dam reached its minimum safe level. The current level will still be below the
minimum level at which the Water Corporation is able to allow water to be
taken.
(4) Water Corporation staff visit the site to monitor
the condition of the dam and its water level. They record a level by taking a visual measurement from a gauge board.
The most recent level was taken by Water Corporation staff on 18 November
2019.

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