Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council will introduce water restrictions in Braidwood and Bungendore from Friday 22 November 2019.
Braidwood will be placed on Stage 2 water restrictions, which encourages residents to reduce their water consumption by 25%. Bungendore will start on Stage 1 water restrictions which call for a 10% reduction in consumption. Measures to achieve these targets include hand held watering instead of using sprinklers, watering under the odds and evens system during set times of the day, not filling or emptying swimming pools without written exemptions, and a range of other measures outlined below.
“This is the first time since 2010 that Braidwood and Bungendore have been placed on water restrictions and comes after a long period of below average rainfall,” Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council Mayor, Cr Tim Overall said.
“The flow in the Shoalhaven River at Braidwood has dipped suddenly which has required us to go straight to level two restrictions. The Braidwood supply is reliant on flows into the Shoalhaven River and while there is still water available, we need to reduce the demand on the river. We have an alternate off river storage which remains in a healthy position.
“The Bungendore water supply is drawn from underground bores and while they are still performing well, monitoring of the water table suggests that Stage 1 restrictions should be imposed at this stage. Council has recently received approval to increase its draw on the underground water supply from a deeper source in Bungendore and works to progress this will be occurring in the near future.
“While enforcement can be enacted under water restrictions, we’ll be focusing more on education and the cooperation of community members at this stage.”
Businesses and other users may apply for exemptions from the restrictions. These exemptions will be considered by staff on a case-by-case basis.
Water restrictions are not required in Captains Flat, with storage currently at 100%, while the Queanbeyan urban area, including Googong, follows the advice of Icon Water which is not currently considering water restrictions. While restrictions are not in place in these two areas, residents are encouraged to be mindful of their water usage and follow the permanent water conservation measures outlined in Council’s website at
