BRISBANE—Queensland's largest council has abandoned a key measure adopted to help the south-east survive the drought.
The Queensland Water Commission (QWC) requires councils in the fast-growing region to send warning letters to households that use more than 800 litres of water per day.
Under some of the toughest water restrictions in the nation, residents are asked to use only 140 litres a day, a campaign known as "Target 140".
But in a letter to QWC chief John Bradley today, Brisbane lord mayor Campbell Newman called the compliance regime "unworkable" and said he wanted to scrap it.
Mr Newman said the council would only target families using more than 1,500 litres of water a day, cutting the number of big-using homes coming to the authorities' attention from 15,000 to 2,000.
He said the program was targeting too many households with a legitimate reason for their high water use.
Mr Bradley told reporters in Brisbane today the council was legally required under the Water Act to send out the compliance warnings.
"It's not a discretionary option that they have, and that's because we need to ensure we've got a system in south-east Queensland that's fair to those residents who are doing four-minute showers and trying to stick to Target 140," he said.
Mr Bradley denied Mr Newman's claims to reporters today that the commission was "overbearing and arrogant".
"We actually changed this program to accommodate Brisbane City Council's preferences ... it's pretty difficult to see what more we could have done to make this work for Brisbane City Council," he said.
Mr Bradley said the council was walking away from a program it helped to develop nine months ago, and he hoped it would "see sense" before the commission had to pursue legal action.
"It's also a real risk in our water security environment where again (dam) levels are only at 38 per cent," Mr Bradley said.
But Mr Newman hadn't changed his position this afternoon, telling ABC radio the commission has grown into "a monster that just won't listen".
"The Queensland Water Commission are very good at issuing edicts and instructions. I have complained directly to the premier about their behaviour in recent times, but they just seem to go on," he said.
"No organisation currently that I can think of in south-east Queensland could be more unaccountable.
"I'm accountable to the people of Brisbane. If I send out a letter to them, I'd better get my facts straight, and that's what I'm endeavouring to do."
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