NEW PROVISIONS FOR OVERLAND FLOW IN BURDEKIN BASIN

New provisions have been introduced to manage the taking of overland flow water in the Burdekin Basin in North Queensland.

The provisions are part of the recently released Water Resource (Burdekin Basin) Plan 2007.

Natural Resources and Water Minister Craig Wallace said the new provisions replaced an existing moratorium on overland flow works in districts covered by the Burdekin Basin Water Resource Plan.

“Overland flow is water which flows over land, including floodwater, that is not contained within a watercourse or lake,” Mr Wallace said.

“Any water pumps or infrastructure such as dams or diversion banks which divert or store the water are considered to be overland flow works.

“Landholders who have overland flow works for stock and domestic water supply purposes, or whose works have a storage capacity of not more than 250 megalitres will not be affected by these new provisions.

‘Landholders who use overland flow water for other purposes, or have a storage capacity of greater than 250 megalitres must notify the department for authorisation of these works by 2 August 2008.”

Mr Wallace said existing works that captured and stored overland flow would be unaffected, providing the works were legally constructed and, where necessary, had been declared to NRW.

“Other new works for taking overland flow that have a capacity greater than 250 megalitres will require an authorisation and will need to adhere to an assessment code, available from the department.

“Similar rules for managing overland flows already apply in the Border Rivers, Moonie, Calliope, Fitzroy, Condamine-Balonne and Warrego/Paroo/Bulloo/Nebine catchments.”

NRW regional manager water services, north region, Nigel Kelly said the overland flow rules had been developed in consultation with the community representative panel, which represented landholders, industry and the wider community in the Burdekin Basin.

“We need to strike a balance between how much overland flow water we can afford to take and how much we must leave to flow naturally into watercourses,” Mr Kelly said.

“This is all about ensuring long-term security of supply to water users as well as adequate environmental flows to protect the health of our rivers.”

Mr Kelly said information sheets, notification kits and codes for overland flow works were available from NRW customer service centres, or from the departmental website at:

http://www.nrw.qld.gov.au/water/management/overlandflow.html.

Copies of the Burdekin Basic Water Resource Plan are also available at: http://www.nrw.qld.gov.au/wrp/burdekin.html.

Media contact: Paul Childs, Craig Wallace’s office on (07) 3896 3689 or 0407 131 654.