A CURRABUBULA farmer has opted not to go to the police despite thieves stealing water from her bore and leaving the tap running - instead offering them her support.
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Landholder Rachel Smith noticed the water flowing onto the ground of her 150 acre property before leaving for work on Wednesday morning.
It flooded her driveway and caused damage to the property's electricity supply.
"We are wondering if it's been going on for a while and we only realised because they left the tap running," Mrs Smith told the Leader.
"This time, they possibly got interrupted halfway through and that's why the tap was left running.
"Sadly, it's probably a local - and if they'd asked for help, we would have given it.
"That's why we haven't reported it to the police.
"It's probably someone doing it tough and us going to the police would only make things worse for them."
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The hobby farmer said the loss of water could have been far worse.
"There's no way to know how much water we lost," she said.
"We're just really lucky we noticed the tap going before my husband and I left for work.
"If it had gone all day, we would have lost around 20,000 litres."
Liverpool Plains mayor Andrew Hope described the theft as "a low act" and said support from the council was available to "locals doing it tough".
"This is the first incident of its kind I have heard about happening in our shire," Cr Hope said.
"To do something like this, during a drought as bad as this, is really disappointing.
"Anyone doing it tough can reach out to council, because there are many things we can do to help."
Water is becoming more scarce on the Liverpool Plains after the Blackville, Premer and Wallabadah bores decreased in the past month.
"Things are really tough and we have had to make some changes to how we do things," Cr Hope said.
"For instance, the public showers at Currabubula have been closed because the bore that supplies it has run dry.
"But we will be doing everything we can to help our community and working closely with all levels of government.
"If there is someone doing it tough out there, don't suffer in silence.
"There are plenty of measures and support structures in place to help locals doing it tough.
"Contact council and we will do whatever we can to help."
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
