BURDEKIN FALLS DAM SPILLS FOLLOWING MONSOONAL RAIN

In what has seemingly become an annual event, the state’s largest dam at Burdekin Falls has exceeded full capacity and is releasing thousands of litres of water over the spillway into the Burdekin River.

Natural Resources and Water Minister Craig Wallace said more than 800,000 megalitres of water have passed over the dam wall since January 5, with this week’s monsoonal rainfall further increasing water levels.

“With such huge downpours in the region in recent weeks, it comes as no surprise that the Burdekin Falls Dam, with a catchment the size of Victoria, is again overflowing,” Mr Wallace said.

“This water isn’t going to waste. Such flows benefit the health of the river system downstream.

“The Burdekin Falls Dam is arguably the best and most reliable dam in Australia, with a capacity of 1.86 million ML. It has Australia’s largest spillway, with a capacity to discharge 5.5 million ML per day.

"The dam is now at 123% capacity and holding 2.2 million megalitres, which is equivalent to 2.2 million Olympic swimming pools.

“Currently 165,000ML per day are going over the dam wall and SunWater advise that the storage level (currently 1.65 metres above the spillway) is expected to reach a peak spill of around 3 metres over the next 24 to 48 hours.

“Following routine operating procedures for when spills of this level occur, SunWater has enacted its Emergency Action Plan and is monitoring the spill of water over the Burdekin Falls Dam.”

Mr Wallace said that SunWater is progressing with its pre-feasibility studies into the raising of the Burdekin Falls Dam, a key element of The Burdekin Basin Water Resource Plan released in 2007.

“It is important that we strike a balance between sustainable water resource development and maintaining the ecological health of the Burdekin River system.

“The Burdekin Basin Water Resource Plan is a blueprint for providing water to the Burdekin Basin over the next ten years, while also protecting environmental flows.

“The plan includes a strategy to raise the wall of the Burdekin Falls Dam by two metres, potentially providing an additional capacity of 590,000 megalitres,” Mr Wallace said.