Water Minister Ann Leahy met with Attorney-General and Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington and South Burnett Mayor Kathy Duff in Blackbutt on Tuesday (Photo: Kathy Duff)

February 26, 2025

South Burnett Mayor Kathy Duff has floated the idea that Stage 2 of Boondooma Dam, near Proston, should be built to improve water issues in the region.

Boondooma Dam was built by the State Government in 1983 to provide a water supply to Tarong Power Station.

As Tarong is the primary user, the amount of water which can be drawn from the facility for other purposes, such as town water or irrigation, has always been restricted.

South Burnett Regional Council currently has an annual allocation from Boondooma which is mixed with Gordonbrook Dam water to supply Kingaroy.

Unlike Gordonbrook Dam, which is managed by the SBRC, Boondooma Dam is managed by Sunwater.

Mayor Duff told last Wednesday’s Council meeting that she had spoken to Member for Flynn Colin Boyce about the proposal.

“I want to assure everyone that we are concerned about water quality and quantity for our region,” Mayor Duff said.

She said one of the options under consideration was the installation of a reverse osmosis water treatment plant, however this would need extra water to run.

“We do not have the additional water allocation,” Mayor Duff said.

“It is also costly to build and more expensive to run.

“I have been in discussions with our Federal Member in the western part of the region, Colin Boyce, about the option of building Stage 2 of Boondooma Dam.

“I believe this would help with both quantity and quality as it is inconsistent currently when we mix  Gordonbrook Dam water with Boondooma Dam water.

“The quantity and quality vary depending on the dam levels.

“On Colin’s advice, we are drafting a letter to send to the State Minister for Water, the Honourable Ann Leahy MP, seeking feedback on options and costs around the prospect of raising the Boondooma Dam wall.”

Mayor Duff said there were a number of other water issues, including Nanango’s reliance on bore water, villages with non-potable water, and other villages with no water.

“Council is waiting on a full report that will come back before June 30 on all options going forward for all of our water across the region,” Mayor Duff said.

“I want to assure residents that we are listening to the community about water concerns and are doing everything we can to find solutions.”

She said that once all options were “on the table”, she hoped to hold community meetings to keep residents informed.

Raising the dam wall at Boondooma was one of the suggestions discussed during the $2 million Burnett Water Feasibility Study conducted several years ago, however was not one of the final recommendations.

Footnote: Mayor Duff, councillors and local MP Deb Frecklington met with Water Minister Ann Leahy in Blackbutt on Tuesday. southburnett.com.au understands that the issue of Boondooma Dam was discussed during this meeting.

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3 Responses to "Mayor Floats Idea To Raise Dam Wall"

  1. So we acknowledge that there is a real danger that our region does not have enough water. But we are super keen on the nuclear proposal that will use much more water than the existing power station…

    Along these lines of delusion, we shall also ban any proposed sustainable energy development (that uses way less water) even though we know it will be overturned on appeal in the planning court and go ahead anyway – see the final paragraph in the BESS Project Sparks Debate story.

    Reply

  2. Stage Two should have been completed years ago, but continuous Labor Governments ruled by the Greens have thwarted any attempt to improve Rural water storage. Every effort should be made to ensure Stage Two progresses.

    Reply

  3. The only reason why Mayor Duff wants this is because she knows a nuclear power plant will need more water than what Tarong does now. Stage Two won’t be used in agriculture or to improve the local water supply but that is how it will be sold to ratepayers.

    We all know the mayor doesn’t like renewables but a nuclear power generating facility at Tarong will not make all the solar farms, batteries and wind farms suddenly disappear. We will end up with solar, batteries, wind, pumped hydro AND very expensive, wasteful nuclear energy as well.

    Reply

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