Water Restrictions

New watering times for Central Highlands Regional Council

The following water restrictions are now enforce for the following communities in the Central Highlands -  Anakie, Blackwater, Bluff, Capella, Comet, Duaringa, Dingo, Emerald, Springsure, Rolleston, Rubyvale, Sapphire, Tieri.


Private gardens - watering

  1. No sprinklers on Mondays.
  2. Odd numbered houses, sprinklers allowed on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, between the hours of 7pm and 9am only.
  3. Even numbered houses, sprinklers allowed Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, between the hours of 7pm and 9am only.
  4. Attended hand held hoses permitted at any time.

Public gardens – watering

  1. No sprinklers or hand held hoses on Mondays.
  2. Sprinklers allowed on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, between the hours of 7pm and 7am only.
  3. Attended hand held hoses permitted at any time.


Private gardens and public gardens - filling or topping up of ponds
No restrictions.

Fountains
No restrictions.

Private swimming pools or spas – filling or topping up
Filling new pools – no restrictions, existing pools may be topped up as per garden watering times.

Dams and tanks – topping up
No restrictions.

Sports grounds - watering
Sprinklers allowed Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, between the hours of 7pm and 7am only.

Commercial market garden or plant nursery – watering of plants
No restrictions.

Window cleaning
No restrictions.

Mobile water tankers – filling
No schedules.

Motor vehicle dealers' vehicles – cleaning
House must be fitted with a trigger control nozzle for cleaning vehicles by hand.

Food transport vehicles – cleaning
No restrictions.

Other vehicles - Cleaning
House must be fitted with a trigger control nozzle for cleaning vehicles by hand.
No limitations apply to automatic car washing systems with recirculation systems.

Construction Industry
No restrictions.

Any purpose not yet included in this column other than for use inside domestic premises and for domestic and farm animals

Water must not be used without the written permission of Central Highlands Regional Council.

Should you have any questions regarding this or any other mater related to the Central Highlands Regional Council Drought Management Plan, please contact CHRC manager Water Utilities Mr. Danniel Pymble on 1300 242 686.


WHAT YOU CAN DO

  • Choose drought resistant grasses. Your local nursery can offer advice on water-efficient grasses.
  • Apply a wetting agent. This will encourage even water penetration, helping any water you apply to reach the root zone and not run off.
  • Use a balanced/complete fertiliser to encourage a deep, healthy root system. It is best applied in autumn or early spring, before good rainfall.
  • Core and de-thatch your lawn in spring to encourage deep water penetration.
  • Mow your lawn on the highest setting to avoid scalping your lawn and to minimise evaporation from the soil below.
  • Mow on cooler days to avoid stress to your lawn.


EFFICIENT WATERING

Before watering your lawn, take a good look at it to see if it really needs watering. A lawn generally needs watering when:

  • The grass takes on a subtle blue tinge; or
  • The grass does not spring back when it is walked on, and footprints are still visible two minutes later.

Check the four-day weather forecast with the Bureau of Meteorology (www.bom.qld.gov.au ). If there is rain ahead, let the rain do your watering for you.
Cyclic watering is an efficient watering method that keeps your lawn healthy with minimal water usage. This method does not cause excessive pooling or run-off, and helps water to penetrate the soil. You can apply the following principles of cyclic watering to all watering methods.

Water the area until pooling or run-off begins (often five minutes is enough) and then turn the water off. Wait for half an hour to one hour to allow the water to soak into the soil, and then repeat the cycle. In between watering cycles, dig down to see how far the water has penetrated the soil. Repeat the cycle until the water reaches the depth of the root zone.

Watering deeply and infrequently encourages a deep, healthy root system.

Watering once a week is usually enough to keep a lawn alive, increasing to twice a week through summer, if necessary.

Scarab grub damage can occur during the summer months. If the lawn starts to turn brown, the soil is not dry and birds are pecking at the lawn, then these signs indicate you have grubs chewing on the root system on your lawn. Apply a lawn grub insecticide to control this.