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Northern Australia Irrigation Futures

Providing new knowledge, tools, and processes to support debate
and decision making regarding irrigation in northern Australia

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Case studies - Lower Burdekin

Background

The lower Burdekin (located some 90 km south of Townsville) is the site of some of Queensland’s earliest irrigation efforts and since the tapping of the first wells in the delta in 1884, the total land under irrigation has now expanded to some 80,000 ha, with both groundwater and surface water resources being used as a source of irrigation water.

The older part of the irrigation area falls within the Burdekin delta system, which lies closer to the coast on both the north and south side of the Burdekin River. These areas are managed by the North (formed in 1965) and South (formed in 1966) Burdekin Water Boards, respectively, which are autonomous Boards independently funded by industry. They have a charter that requires them to manage replenishment of groundwaters contained in an open aquifer system that is subject to a constant threat of seawater intrusion.

Burdekin damThe more recent irrigation development, the Burdekin River Project, now known as the Burdekin Haughton Water Supply Scheme (BHWSS), is a major land and water resource development that cost more than $580 million. This project was undertaken with the assistance of both Australian and Queensland Government funding. Construction of the Burdekin Falls Dam, located some 100 kilometres south east of Charters Towers, began in 1980 and was completed in 1987. Development of the irrigation area commenced in 1983 and was completed in 2001.

The principal objective of the Burdekin River Project (BHWSS) was to provide adequate water supplies for the irrigation of sugarcane, rice and other crops on new land to be opened up in the lower Burdekin to ensure continued regional economic growth. It was proposed that the scheme would provide for the irrigation of an additional 50,000 hectares of land either side of the Burdekin River. A further objective was to provide additional water for urban and industrial growth in the twin cities of Townsville and Thuringowa.

The BHWSS Project is now effectively complete and the works are owned and operated by SunWater, a government owned corporation. The dam is operated in conjunction with pre-existing weirs on the Burdekin and Haughton rivers. Pump stations, located on Clare Weir, divert water into two main channels, one on each bank of the river, and the water is then supplied to individual farms via a system of subsidiary channels totalling approximately 400 km in length. 

As well as providing water for irrigation and urban and industrial use in the immediate region, the Burdekin Falls Dam is now able to supply up to 17,000 ML of water per annum to the Bowen Basin coalfields via a 218 km pipeline from the dam to Moranbah. A feasibility study is also now under way for the construction of another pipeline from the Burdekin to Bowen, 150 km south of Ayr. This pipeline will have the capacity to provide up to 60,000 ML per annum from existing allocations in the Burdekin Falls Dam. 

The State Government is responsible for overseeing the sustainable allocation and management of both the groundwater and surface water in the lower Burdekin through the legislative provisions in the Water Resources (Burdekin basin) Plan 2007.

Lower Burdekin Initiative

Burdekin furrow irrigationThe Lower Burdekin Initiative (LBI) was formed in 2000 to provide a framework for coordination of the water related research activities that were being undertaken in the Burdekin region by a range of organisations. 

A Reference Group, with membership from across Australia, provided ongoing input to and monitoring of project goals and progress, assisted in identifying and securing appropriate funding for research work, assisted with communication of project outputs/outcomes, and helped facilitate collaboration and/or establishment of links with other similar efforts, both nationally and internationally.

Further details of the LBI, including the research undertaken at that time, can be found at www.clw.csiro.au/lbi/

Burdekin Water Futures

The LBI above addressed a better integration of the projects and technical activities being undertaken in the region. From this, there came the need for coordination at a higher level, providing an over-arching strategic approach with a long-term, whole of system focus, that could oversee, drive and provide direction to the research work. This led to the development of the Burdekin Water Futures (BWF). Keith Bristow (NAIF Project Leader) played a lead role in initiating and establishing the Burdekin Water Futures.

The BWF mission is to support a long-term, strategic, whole-of-system approach to understanding and managing the lower Burdekin water resources and associated systems, and thereby deliver long-term economic, social and environmental outcomes that ensure the region’s sustainability.

Read more about the Burdekin Water Futures.

Research in the lower Burdekin

Some of the research and related activities being carried out in the lower Burdekin includes:

  • monitoring and measuring in the BurdekinImproving understanding of the hydrogeochemistry of the lower Burdekin groundwater systems and implications to groundwater salinisation and the transport and fate of solutes (eg nitrates) that enter the groundwater systems
  • Improving understanding of the hydrogeological settings and surface water – groundwater interactions
  • Development and implementation of the Lower Burdekin Knowledge Platform
  • Assessing past and existing decision-making processes in order to develop a framework for new ways to make better decisions for irrigation development proposals
  • Improving understanding of the complexity, uncertainty and resilience associated with irrigation
  • Understanding and managing on-farm and regional water and salt balances in Mona Park
  • Modelling seawater intrusion in the Burdekin Delta aquifer
  • A range of other activities are being carried out by various organisations

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Last Updated 13 October, 2009

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