By CAITLIN CROWLEY
THE ECONOMIC benefits of the largest weir to be built in Australia since the Second World War are on the cusp of flowing across Central Queensland after summer downpours left the newly completed Rookwood Weir spilling for the first time.
The significant milestone came just a month after the half-a-billion dollar project was officially finished in November last year, giving Central Queensland the first glimpse of what the “game changing” project will mean for the region’s water security.
The Caller can confirm the first successful applicants for water allocations may be able to access the new supply option as early as April, now that the weir is full and contract negotiations are in the final stages.
The weir can hold 86,000 megalitres of water – around 34,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools – for 60kms upstream and is currently sitting at 122 percent capacity after starting to spill on December 27.
“We will begin to see the regional benefits from this first fill of the weir in no time, with flows reaching Rockhampton and beyond,” Rockhampton MP Barry O’Rourke said.
“We are now much closer to being able to provide landholders successful in the Rookwood Weir water sales with access to this precious resource.”
More than 36,000 megalitres of water from the weir has been allocated to agricultural use, from grain, fruit and nut cropping to livestock production.
“While wet commissioning and testing of the weir’s elements began in December 2023, the weir filling and spilling will allow us to expedite the testing process,” Sunwater CEO Glenn Stockton (pictured left) told the Caller.
“Rookwood Weir is managing this first event well and passing outflows safely downstream towards our Eden Ban Weir, which is also spilling and currently at 120 per cent, an increase of approximately 300 per cent since 22 December 2023.”
A Sunwater spokesperson said landholders who were successful in Rookwood Weir water sales were also completing contractual requirements to finalise access to their water entitlements and that Sunwater was aiming for water to be available for use before the end of the wet season, around April or May this year.
“Sunwater completed the first stage of the tender process in December 2020, providing 30,000 megalitres of medium priority water for agricultural and non-urban use to Rural Funds Management and Argyle Capital Partners,” the spokesperson said.
“In June 2022, Sunwater confirmed the 21 successful landholders to receive a combined 6082 megalitres of water following the completion of a second water tender process.”
One of the beneficiaries of the new water supply will be Mort & Co’s new Gogango Feedlot, in partnership with Rural Funds Management who owns the land and water allocation.
The 36,500 head feedlot will employ more than 65 full time staff, turnover 125,500 cattle annually and include a $15 million fertiliser plant which will repurpose the 43,000 tonnes of manure generated, turning it into a carbon-based granule fertiliser.
It’s estimated the feedlot will contribute $31.1 million to Rockhampton’s economy and inject $53.2 million into the regional economy.
At the official celebration of the weir’s construction in November last year, Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick said the weir would help diversify Central Queensland’s economy and “create good, long-term jobs”.
“Over the next 20 years, this weir will provide about $3.5 billion in additional value to agriculture in this part of Queensland,” he said.
The Rookwood Weir project, which was also known as the Lower Fitzroy River Infrastructure Project, was first promised by then-Premier Peter Beattie back in 2006, but it would be more than a decade before a detailed business case was completed in 2017.
After securing state and federal funding and a range of government approvals, early works on the weir started in late 2020.
A Sunwater spokesperson told the Caller, remaining water available from the weir has not be allocated yet and will be available for sale in the future.