Stage 2 Water Restrictions

Canberra is now under Stage 2 water restrictions, which are remarkably similar to the old stage three water restrictions. Obviously “stage two” sounds less significant, drastic and urgent than “stage three”, and the redesignation of water restriction stages is probably a face saving measure from the Stanhope government who saw fit, for no decent reason, to lift water restrictions a while back.

A highlight of the restrictions is a ban on sprinkler and irrigation systems, so it will be interesting to see what happens to the sprinkler systems in common areas of government housing blocks, and other government buildings like Gorman House. In the case of government housing blocks, it is not uncommon for the sprinkler heads to be damaged and result in water fountains which rarely get fixed and waste a heap of water. Whether the government remember to turn off these systems is going to be quite interesting.

Certainly early signs are a poor indication for the government, with sprinklers watering the median strip on Northbourne Avenue, under the control of a Territory and Municipal Services employee, during peak hour this morning.

For full details see the Stage 2 PDF ^[1] (mirrored here ^[2]).

Samuel