BOOST TO DAM LEVELS LIFTS THE SPIRITS OF BUNDABERG AND BURNETT FARMERS

Widespread rainfall across the Bundaberg region has resulted in steady increases in dam and weir levels making it extremely likely farmers will see a boost to their water allocations.

Water Minister Craig Wallace said he had been advised that SunWater was currently calculating inflows figures in the Bundaberg and Barker-Barambah water supply scheme to see if allocation increases could result from recent inflows into Paradise and Bjelke-Petersen dams.

Mr Wallace said the past two weeks had finally delivered much-needed water to the parched Wide Bay region and hopes were now raised for the sort of dam-filling rainfall witnessed recently in Central Queensland and parts of the State’s South East.

“Things are definitely starting to look up in the region with Paradise Dam jumping from a low 16% capacity this time last month to a much healthier 28% today,” Mr Wallace said.

“It’s certainly great news for farmers on that part of the system and it will no doubt lift their spirits after watching their dam capacity decrease to almost critical levels only a few months ago.

“All our downstream weirs are overflowing and the Bureau of Meteorology is predicting more significant rainfall over the coming week which will hopefully translate into more inflows and increases to farming water allocations.

Mr Wallace said he was very pleased to see Bjelke-Petersen Dam finally received some useful inflows after such a long time hovering close to empty.

“Bjelke-Petersen Dam has seen a big boost thanks to some useful inflows and is now looking very good at 15.5% with just over 20,000 megalitres being stored.

“It’s a real sign of the drought’s impact when you say a dam is looking good at 15.5%, but after sitting at 3% and being on critical water sharing arrangements for most of last year, this increase is certainly good news for the towns and farms that rely on this storage for water supply,” he said.

Mr Wallace said SunWater had advised him that it would be reviewing allocations once final inflow figures had been calculated.

He said the good news spread further south with massive inflows into Boondooma Dam in the past week which had shored up water supply security for the Tarong Power Station and surrounding towns and farms.

“At the peak of the inflow, the dam increased by a tremendous 30% capacity in just three days, bringing the storage back to half full.

“With more than 100,000 megalitres now stored, downstream farmers are for the first time since 2006 assured of some water supply,” he said.

Mr Wallace said closer to the coastline, irrigators in the Upper Mary River were recently advised by SunWater that their allocations had increased from 32% to 60% as a result of the improved water level in Borumba Dam.

Dam and weir levels

Paradise Dam 28% (82261Ml); Fred Haigh Dam 20% (114,370Ml); Bjelke-Petersen Dam 15.5% (20,900Ml)

Ned Churchward Weir 100% (30,000Ml); Bucca Weir 100% (11,884Ml); Kolan Barrage 100% (4700Ml); Ben Anderson Barrage 100% (30,347Ml).

Media inquiries: Paul Childs, Craig Wallace’s office, on 0407 131 654.