The News Review:

- Iemma rejects tougher water restrictions
- Water restrictions an ‘easy option’
- Irrigation firm ‘cut throats’ of farmers
- Water supply back to normal: Tubui
- Vancouver boil-water advisory reaches one week

Iemma rejects tougher water restrictions
The Age – Nov 23, 2006
The government has now started that process. If the levels drop below 30 per cent, a desalination plant willbe built at Kurnell, in southern Sydney. NSW Nationals leader Andrew Stoner said the latest dam levelshowed there was less than 100 weeks’ worth of water supply leftfor the Sydney region, based on current usage rates. “That means that without rain we have less than two-years’supply for the Sydney metropolitan area,” he told reporters. Mr Stoner also pointed to a federal government report whichwarned that water bills for Sydneysiders could leap by 33 per centif the government failed to do more to invest in waterinfrastructure. “This increase is likely to happen because the governmentdoesn’t have any answers for Sydney’s water supply and because itcontinues to plunder large dividends out of Sydney Water,” hesaid. “They have stripped $700 million from Sydney Water in the lastsix years.

Water restrictions an ‘easy option’
The Age – Nov 23, 2006
A spokesman for Victorian Water Minister John Thwaites disputedthat the Government was taking the soft option, saying waterconservation was a crucial part of securing the state’s watersupply. “Melburnians have done a great job saving 22 per cent ontheir use in the 1990s,” he said. He said Victoria was also investing in new water supplies, suchas the reconnection of the Tarago Reservoir and the EasternRecycling Plant proposal, which would use Melbourne’s waste waterfor Latrobe Valley power generation, freeing up more than 100billion litres of drinking water.

Irrigation firm ‘cut throats’ of farmers
NEWS.com.au – Nov 23, 2006
"We’ve had a run of dry and very dry seasons over the last four or five years and these massive storages which have served us so well are now at the point where they’re running out of water too. " Murray Irrigation takes water from dams along the Murray and stores it in a network of canals, from where it is fed to irrigators and towns such as Finley and Berrigan. "We simply can’t afford to maintain those levels of water supply right through the summer because we haven’t got enough water," Mr Warne said. "Even our modest losses of 10 or 15 per cent are too high to warrant running an irrigation scheme for the whole summer. "Water for human consumption and water for livestock is by far our highest priority. "That’s been the real challenge – to try and maintain stock and domestic (supply) in the town, and a farm station water supply, but at the same time recognise that we are cutting the throats of so many irrigators across the region.

Water supply back to normal: Tubui
Fiji Times – Nov 23, 2006
AREAS in the Central Division that experienced water cuts should expect to have continuous supply today, says the Public Works Department. PWD acting divisional Engineer Water and Sewerage (Central Eastern), Samuela Tubui said the technical problems at the Waimanu pump station were fixed on Tuesday night and the water level at the Tamavua Treatment Plant was steadily increasing. However, he advised that it would be prudent for residents in the affected areas to store water in case the water levels at the storage plants in Tamavua were insufficient. “The two pumps at the Waimanu pump station that had developed technical problems on Monday and early Tuesday were restarted last night (Tuesday) and are functioning well,” said Mr Tubui. Areas affected include Delainavesi, higher areas of Lami, Wailoku, Veisari, Cunningham, Namadi, Savutalele and Six Miles, Princes Road, Tacirua Heights and higher areas of Sakoca. Mr Tubui said large parts of the Tamavua system had re-filled during the night but there was a slight improvement in the storage level…
Areas affected include Delainavesi, higher areas of Lami, Wailoku, Veisari, Cunningham, Namadi, Savutalele and Six Miles, Princes Road, Tacirua Heights and higher areas of Sakoca. Mr Tubui said large parts of the Tamavua system had re-filled during the night but there was a slight improvement in the storage level. He said the areas would have disrupted water supply as the demand varied throughout the day. Sera Naisau, a Lami resident, said their water supply returned to normal later yesterday. She said the area often experienced water cuts and as such they had a water tank to help them in such situations. A resident at Tacirua Heights, Ganga Dayal said they kept a water tank so they were not affected.

Vancouver boil-water advisory reaches one week
CTV.ca – Nov 23, 2006
The advisory will end when Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) officials determine the turbidity levels are low enough. Most people in the Vancouver area get their water from the Capilano, Seymour and Coquitlam reservoirs. Turbidity levels in Capilano’s water supply were dropping so slowly that officials took it off line, although the gradual addition of clean water is helping the situation. Levels are also changing slowly in Seymour’s water, but the supply has more exposure to chlorine. “We have about 45 minutes in the Capilano system for the chlorine to work on those bugs before you hit the first customer, whereas in the Seymour system we have about three hours,” Paul Archibald, water supply operations manager for the Greater Vancouver Regional District, told The Canadian Press. Vivianna Zanocco of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority said Seymour is also being helped by the gradual addition of fresh water. “What we’re seeing in Seymour is that the turbidity at the lower levels is quite high, but at the upper levels, where there’s new water coming in either from rain or from fresh streams, it’s actually very clean,” she told CTV Vancouver…
Most people in the Vancouver area get their water from the Capilano, Seymour and Coquitlam reservoirs. Turbidity levels in Capilano’s water supply were dropping so slowly that officials took it off line, although the gradual addition of clean water is helping the situation. Levels are also changing slowly in Seymour’s water, but the supply has more exposure to chlorine. “We have about 45 minutes in the Capilano system for the chlorine to work on those bugs before you hit the first customer, whereas in the Seymour system we have about three hours,” Paul Archibald, water supply operations manager for the Greater Vancouver Regional District, told The Canadian Press. Vivianna Zanocco of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority said Seymour is also being helped by the gradual addition of fresh water. “What we’re seeing in Seymour is that the turbidity at the lower levels is quite high, but at the upper levels, where there’s new water coming in either from rain or from fresh streams, it’s actually very clean,” she told CTV Vancouver. Officials said it could take at least another week to clean the Seymour reservoir, and several weeks to clean the Capilano reservoir.