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The following is taken from the QPWS website.

Can I use a water spear (that is, a device to pierce the ground to obtain water from underground)?

No, this interferes with a natural resource (which is an offence under the Nature Conservation Act) and QPWS cannot guarantee the quality of the water.

Yet it is perfectly legal to take water form any of the creeks that flow to the ocean. There is millions of litres of water that flow across the beach every day on Fraser but for some reason it is not legal to use this water before it comes to the surface.

How on earth do we get rid of the morons that are making these rules?

This is from the same people that will fine you heavily if you damage any Flora on the island but then they can turn around and bulldoze acres and acres of it to put up Dingo fences.

Most true quote I have ever heard (Lightning_silver_RX)

QPWS - Public not welcome

What's QPWS?

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service

aka pack of di$%heads

You're somehwat luckier than us - last year NPWS, Fisheries, Dep of Ag, State Forests and a couple of others all came together under one department - now we have the tree huggers (NPWS) dictating to fisheries, forests and the Dep of Ag what they can and can't do.

NPWS/QPWS they are just a law unto themselves...


I can't see them actually pinging you for spearing though... would they?

Yep. They do. The reason we were told was because someone was drinking spear water and got sick.

NPWS - No Public Welcome Sorry

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe they could put meters on sphere's and make some coin.

I agree that QPWS are difficult and I am not suggesting that QPWS are not stupid... if they were more like CALM (which is not perfect) in WA you’d be laughing, however other then this point of them being idiots I am a little unclear and I can not see what the issue is here.

You have to be aware that the water in the creeks are flowing and flowing water almost always is always more fresh then non flowing water. What they may be suggesting is that they can not guarantee what water source you’re tapping into. In addition to this you also suggested there is millions of liters of water around the island so why would you need to use a water spear anyway? Do we really need heaps of people (other idiots) driving their own water spears in all over the place? Can we just not use what is already readily available?

You are not aloud to camp near the creeks any more. So, getting water now becomes a task that must be done. No longer can you just walk to the creek and get a few buckets of water. It is illegal to dam the creeks in any manner. Fair enough I suppose.

The water we use is for cleaning. Self and dishes mainly. Hot showers are also welcome in the middle of winter. Now it is possible to drive the 15 kilometres to the showers and taps at the camp grounds and then back. 30 kilometres to get 20 litres of water. 30 kilometres on the beach, especially Fraser Island can use a lot of fuel. Think about all the emissions from all the vehicles that have to drive to get water now they have stopped the availability.

Now think about using a spear. Water on demand. No environmental damage. No fuel bills. Less driving altogether which has to be good for the beach and tracks. Cost free as the pump is 12 volt. Simply flick the switch and you are filling your bucket/shower/wash basin right at your camp.

The spears are removable and are taken home every time you leave the place. There is no damage done to the environment by them. The are the perfect way of getting water. You simply drop your pump in and you have water on tap.

The DUMB thing about it all is that the NPWS are catering for the backpacking fraternity and don't give a stuff about Australian residents. They are closing the area off with fences to protect these backpackers from their own ignorance. Then they fence off the resorts where the people with more money than God stay. Yet they are continually making life hard for the typical Australian family that likes to go to the beach and camp.

I am surprised they can keep getting away with it. QPWS really have no concept of reality. The amount of roads they have bulldozed through the place to make it easier for backpackers to get around is ridiculous. Then they go and close off roads where only true Fraser enthusiasts would want to go.

Some of the best drives on the Island were through some really amazing rain forests and wet lands with hard to difficult 4wding to get there. Now they are blocked off to "protect us" from getting lost or stranded. There is thousands of vehicles traveling the main routes to the big 3 attractions on the island each year. Yet there would have only been a few hundred, if that, travelling the more remote tracks.

NPWS National Sparks and Wild Fires

I was not aware that they had changed the reg’s about the water, so this does add a little weight to your arguments/frustrations. However, am still not 100% sure on the issues… yes it’s a pain however nothing that can not be worked around, and I know you’ve camped in harder places then this – unless you fellas are getting soft with age . (Oh, and you know its going to be the minority that will abuse, or the potential abuse of the spear water that would have wrecked it for the majority).

As for the track destruction on 1 hand and closures occurring on the other, yes I agree that’s just nuts (and they were doing that before we left Qld). As I said if they were all more like WA you’d be laughing.


Good luck wiht making the adjustments as i know that you fellas will still frequent the area.

Just on the topic on the water spear and ground water use. First off, i've never heard of these spears (interesting).

At uni we've been looking at ground water and how the perception in australia is that groundwater is our drough proofing tool or saviour during drought times.

The thing is with ground water is that its a finite resource if it is not managed/topped up properly/periodically. A full aquifer will allow creeks and rivers to flow more regularly than one thats lower. Reason being is that ground water needs to be recharged, or filled up. Creeks and rivers being the lowest point in the landscape are the easiest way of doing it, a nice slow trickle back into the groundwater. This also gives healthy water back to the aquifer.
I really don't think a lot of people in the community realise this. At the vineyard I work at the water level is somewhere near 90m below ground. 10 years ago when the bore was put in it was near 70m. In town it seems every second house has a bore (and green grass year round).
Whats happening in melbourne now is the same, those who can afford it are sucking it out like no tomorrow. If toorak continues the way it is now, their aquifer will be yarra quality or port phillip bay quality...
Our creek at home would usually be starting to flow now in a decent year, its still dry and the pools that remain are very low.

The problem for Frasier Island is that if you suck enough fresh ground water out, something has to replace it... Its surrounded by salt water, this is where the ground water will be topped up. As long as the climate keeps the rain up to frasier, the groundwater will remain fresh. If it ever gets to the point that the groundwater is at sea level there will be some contamination, possilbly resulting in some vegetation change or loss. May seem a little doomsdayish but it will happen gradually rather than armageddon like.

I know there are other issues that you have highlighted that I also do not agree with (resorts/fences/clearing/closing of roads that are not dangerous/causes serious environmental damage). Also, Frasier Island is on my places to go, so I have not experienced it when you could camp by the creek (which is usually the go if you can find one these days), so don't have a first hand experience.

This write up is info to add for comment, not to have a stab at what your perceptions or you personally.

Bennie

Glind sand spear - http://www.glind.com.au/accessories/15- ... spear.html

Forget the bloody spear I'll have 2 of the accessories ASAP thankyou.

Lightning_Silver_RX wrote:


Glind sand spear - http://www.glind.com.au/accessories/15- ... spear.html

Trust you to be in like flynn Myne hasn't come off backorder yet, but I'll be sure to give you a full write up when it arrives

Peter you funny old bugger. Made me laugh.

The thing with the ground water at Fraser is it is not a permanent thing having the spear in there. I understand fully what you are saying about depleting the stocks in rural type areas. These spears have the ability to pump 100 times more water every (atleast) every day compared to 40 litres of water per camp site that may be using a spear.

The Fraser water is also seen as seepage along a lot of the beach near the highest dunes. It does not flow as a creek proper in a lot of places. There is hundreds of metres at a time of wet beach from seepage. The island is also sand, so there is not actually any reservoir of water. If it rains hard for a week the creeks flow hard for two. If it doesn't rain for a month the creeks trickle.

If the QPWS are using contamination as their theory behind this madness then all the worse for it. There is a lot of words written about the sand being a terrific filter for the water and the cleanliness is apparently second to none.

So you have heard that they are definitely closing the beach at Hook Pt.!There was something in the news about it during the week.