HAVE YOUR SAY: Burnett irrigation water demand

How should the region invest in water? Have your say... Picture: AGVIC

Burnett producers and business owners are being asked for their insight to help direct the region’s future investment of water.

Sunwater are asking North and South Burnett, as well as Cherbourg and Bundaberg, local operators business owners, industry representatives and primary producers who currently (or may in future) rely on water for irrigation, urban, and mining and industrial uses to complete NCEconomic’s online survey.

Over the next 12-18 months, Sunwater will be working to develop the Bundaberg and Burnett Regional Water Assessment (BBRWA) program.

Once complete, the Bundaberg and Burnett Regional Water Assessment will set out how existing infrastructure and non-existing infrastructure can be used to maximise water supply in each area and drive economic growth. The BBRWA aims to deliver economic opportunity in the region through investment in water.

The BBRWA program will look at the needs and opportunities across the entire region, not on a project-by-project basis. This means that all options can be assessed, both individually and together, to determine how the region’s water needs can be met.

Ultimately this will inform the development of a region-wide strategy to create economic opportunity through water.

Key to ensuring that the Burnett region has every opportunity to secure future projects starts with having large data inputs from different sectors into a demand assessment of water needs and usage study.

Being delivered by Natural Capital Economics (NCEconomics), the study will strengthen the understanding of the region’s water needs over the next 30 years and help build a robust business case for securing funding to address those needs and achieve economic outcomes.

This survey will be available until Sunday, 15 May 2022 and is accessible here: bit.ly/3v3AUG8