Abstract
The Cairns Regional Council (CRC) has identifi ed the need to acquire an additional water source in the near future (council’s corporate plan, section 5.1). Options listed include Barron River, Mulgrave aquifer, dead storage at Copperlode Dam, upgrade freshwater capacity and upgrade of Behana Ck intake. Currently the main additional water source targets are Mulgrave aquifer and Lake Placid (Barron River) water treatment plants (WTP). We present a cost and environmentally superior alternative which is to access the (East) Mulgrave River at the back of Bellenden Ker Mountain via a tunnel from the coastal plane. First we present a stream-fl ow model for the catchment of the East Mulgrave River above 600 m and show that suffi cient water is available at that point for a water intake. This model is based on recent rainfall and cloudstripping research by Dr David McJannet performed on Mount Bellenden Ker. Second we present a costing model for the construction of a one-lane, 6.5 km vehicular tunnel from the base...
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