{"id":300175,"date":"2021-06-03T11:22:07","date_gmt":"2021-06-03T01:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=300175"},"modified":"2021-06-08T19:47:51","modified_gmt":"2021-06-08T09:47:51","slug":"spillway-to-cost-11-8m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2021\/06\/03\/spillway-to-cost-11-8m\/","title":{"rendered":"Spillway To Cost $11.8m"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gordonbrook Dam’s spillway was badly damaged in the 2013 floods and was replaced in 2014-15 at a cost of $4.5 million … but now the State Government has told the South Burnett Regional Council it must spend a further $11.8 million on the spillway so it will comply with the latest dam safety guidelines (Photo: SBRC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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South Burnett Mayor Brett Otto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 2, 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n

Murgon will live with its ageing wastewater treatment plant for another decade – and Kingaroy with its current water supply system – so the South Burnett Regional Council can borrow $11.8 million to help prevent a 1-in-10,000 year event.<\/p>\n

At Wednesday’s Budget planning meeting, Councillors voted to borrow $11.8 million over three financial years to upgrade the spillway on Gordonbrook Dam.<\/p>\n

The Council will borrow $800,000 in 2022-23, a further $5 million in 2023-24 and a final $6 million in 2024-25.<\/p>\n

The spillway upgrade has been ordered by Queensland\u2019s Dam Safety Regulator, which has made similar demands on all Queensland councils that operate water storages.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The upgrade aims to improve Gordonbrook’s acceptable flood capacity, reducing the risk downstream properties might face if the dam overflowed.<\/p>\n

The Council is obliged to have 65 per cent of the upgrades completed by 2025, with the balance completed by 2035.<\/p>\n

In early May neighbouring Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) announced it will face a bill of between $138 million and $182 million to carry out similar upgrades at Cressbrook and Cooby dams, two of Toowoomba’s three water storages.<\/p>\n

TRC warned the costs of the spillway upgrades were so excessive they could negatively affect the Council\u2019s 10-year capital works program and damage its credit rating with Queensland Treasury.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, South Burnett councillors voted to pursue a three-year borrowing program to cover the spillway’s upgrade costs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

To accommodate this, Councillors decided to defer the replacement of Murgon’s existing wastewater treatment plant to 2032, and put a similar deferral on planned upgrades to Kingaroy’s water trunk infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Mayor Brett Otto told southburnett.com.au<\/strong> he had received advice from Council officers that Murgon’s wastewater facilities should have another 10 years of working life.<\/p>\n

Kingaroy’s trunk infrastructure upgrades can also be postponed providing the town does not grow too quickly over the coming decade.<\/p>\n

At present, the SBRC has about $30 million in long-term borrowings and a further $3 million in short-term borrowings on its books.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This $33 million debt – most of it borrowed from Queensland Treasury at a minimal interest rate – is around half the $62 million debt the Council inherited when it was formed from the 2008 amalgamations, and is being repaid at about $3 million a year.<\/p>\n

Because of this, the planned three-year borrowing program will not introduce any significant amount of new debt.<\/p>\n

Mayor Otto stressed he intends to continue to seek State and Federal funding for water-related projects in the region.<\/p>\n

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