Project/company overview
Seqwater is the Queensland Government statutory authority responsible for delivering safe, secure and cost-effective bulk drinking water for more than 3 million people across South East Queensland. The region is increasingly challenged by how to prepare for the impacts of climate change. A key focus is on ensuring the supply of safe, secure, and cost-effective bulk drinking water to customers.
Problem
In 2015 following a wet season, conditions turned dry resulting in a drought event that impacted the security of a water utility’s water supply. The decline in grid storage was primarily driven by the decline of two major dams, with one reaching the lowest level of less than 45% in 2021. After much debate on future capital expenditure the drought snapped in 2022 restoring grid storage to pre-drought levels. To prepare for future drought scenarios the organisation developed a suite of drought supply options in the form of capital projects as part of an overall drought preparedness program.
Outcome
To support the executive team make an informed decision, we worked in collaboration with the project team to construct scenarios based on the most recent drought event and a design drought event (worst case scenario). The options to mitigate the impacts of the drought ranged from the most aggressive and costly to more conservative investments with greater risk exposure. The insights were presented through a dynamic decision tool highlighting the sequencing of capital projects aligned to trigger volumes for when planning activities should commence to ensure a project was ‘shovel ready’ for delivery.
Value
The executive team were able to make an informed decision a preferred drought preparedness program with a new set of trigger points for planning activities based on insights obtained from the decision tool.
