Protecting Cairns' water supply in severe weather

To protect Cairns’ water supply during severe wet weather, Level 4 water restrictions were put in place from 15 to 21 March 2026 as Council responded to significant risks across the network.

The precautionary measures were designed to preserve stored water for essential use only, reduce pressure on reservoirs and help maintain supply while treatment operations were disrupted.

Council implemented the restrictions after intense rainfall caused extremely high turbidity levels in the Freshwater Creek catchment, forcing the Freshwater Treatment Plant offline at about 1am on 15 March.

Over the previous 48 hours, the Copperlode Dam catchment recorded 260mm of rain, while Crystal Cascades began spilling after the dam reached 100 per cent capacity on 11 March.

At the same time, Brinsmead and Bayview reservoirs remained offline and the University reservoir was operating at reduced capacity, increasing pressure on the broader network.

The restrictions were lifted on 21 March once water treatment operations and reservoir storage levels had stabilised.

Ongoing reservoir repairs continues to affect supply conditions from Cairns North to Smithfield, where reduced storage capacity is increasing the likelihood of outages, low pressure, discoloured water and mains breaks, particularly during peak demand periods.

Residents are being urged to conserve water and keep stored drinking water on hand as part of storm preparedness, while around 70 per cent of Council irrigation systems remain switched off to save water.