One of the few low-temperature geothermal power stations in the world is providing power for the town of Birdsville in western Queensland. The plant derives its energy from the near-boiling (980C) water taken from the Great Artesian Basin (at a depth of 1230m) that provides a water supply for the town. Hot bore water is a “free” energy resource which would otherwise be wasted when water is cooled before use.

Release of the finalised map showing the Cooroy to Curra Bruce Highway upgrade

Discussion paper prepared by Marsden Jacob Associates on the projected costs (and yields) of harvesting water from an enlarged Borumba Dam and from the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam.

Purpose of these guidelines Under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the Act), an action will require approval from the Environment Minister if: * the action has, will have, or is likely to have a significant impact on a matter of national environmental significance*; and * the action is not subject to one of the exceptions identified below. The matters of national environmental significance are: * World Heritage properties, * Ramsar wetlands of international importance, * listed threatened species and communities, * migratory species protected under international agreements, * nuclear actions, and * the Commonwealth marine environment.

The proposed action is the construction and operation of Traveston Crossing Dam on the Mary River in South-East Queensland (SEQ), and the construction or relocation of associated infrastructure. It is proposed to construct the dam in two stages but to seek full approval for Stage 1 only at present. QWI acknowledges that a separate referral would be required for Stage 2 should it proceed. It is envisaged that Stage 1 of Traveston Crossing Dam will be capable of supplying at least 70,000 ML/annum of water to mainly urban and industrial users within the SEQ region. 150,000 ML/annum would likely be available at Stage 2. The dam is a significant item of infrastructure but there are 15 existing dams in Queensland with a larger reservoir volume (at Stage 1).

Outline The objects of this Bill are to: * repeal the five acts to be replaced by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Bill 1998. These are; the Endangered Species Protection Act 1992; the Environment Protection (Impact of Proposals) Act 1974; the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975; the Whale Protection Act 1980; and the World Heritage Properties Conservation Act 1983; * provide for savings and transitional arrangements for a smooth transition from the processes in place under the old acts, such as various environment assessment and permitting arrangements, to the new schemes established under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Bill 1998

The Australian Government wishes to ensure that all efficient and cost effective water supply options are considered for Australia’s major urban areas, regardless of state boundaries. The purpose and fundamental objective of this desk top study is to determine if there is underutilised water resources in north eastern NSW, and the feasibility of its transfer to south east Queensland, and if so the relative costs and benefits of such a scheme.

Overview of the current state of the natural resource assets in the Western Catchments of SEQ South-east Queensland Western Catchments Group Inc.the State of Our Region report is an essential resource for the community, industries and local governments of the region, as well as being a resource for government agencies and organisations outside of the region. SEQWCG has made a commitment to update the State of Our Region report on an annual basis to ensure that it remains up to date and informed by the latest research and onground implementation.

The future health of the western catchments’ social, physical and economic environment is highly dependent on the people who live in and beyond the region – those who farm, manage, consume, enjoy or in the other ways contribute to and use the environmental service and products it provides.

The Intergovernmental Agreement on a National Water Initiative was signed by the Commonwealth of Australia and the Governments of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory on 25 June 2004. Information on this Agreement and the actual Agreement can be found at http://www.pmc.gov.au/nwi/index.cfm and at http://www.coag.gov.au/meetings/250604/index.htm

Part B SEQ Regional Growth Plan

Draft Terms of Reference for Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) FOR Woolooga to Cooroy Transmission Line and Cooroy South Substation Project

Site where the Draft Water Resource Plan for the Mary River was released in December 2005 for a period of public consultation until February 2006.

Over ninety percent of Queensland is now covered by water resource planning activities with the finalisation of fourteen water resource plans and five resource operations plans and many more in the draft stage. The Department presently regulates the flow regimes via water resource plans in 5 plan areas, covering approximately one third of the State. Moratoriums on overland flow development are in place in other parts of the State where take of overland flow poses a risk to environmental outcomes or entitlements of existing users.

The State Government produced a fact sheet outlining infrastructure plans for the Mary River in 2005 - fact sheet W93. This has now been removed from their website, but is still in the catalogue listings. It makes no mention of a large dam at Traveston Crossing.

11:00 What’s involved with dam construction?- Jon Williams, Manager Dams Group, Brisbane, GHD. Quote:- “Aim to have environmental and other approvals in place by early 2008 so that a three-year construction program can begin later in that year”. -The Courier Mail 24/5/06 11.40-Potential for PPP’s to assist in water infrastructure management in Queensland. Speaker: Graham Dooley, Managing Director, United Utilities Australia. Quote:-“Open the way for private companies to build dams, desalination plants and other infrastructure through arrangements with a newly created Water Commission”. -The Courier Mail 21/4/06 2:40 Water usage in power generation- David Knights, Scientific Officer, Tarong Energy.

Agenda of a workshop discussing New Water Infrastructures; Risk Analysis and project delivery. Quote "Open the way for private companies to build dams, desalination plants and other infrastructure through arrangements with a newly created Water Commission” The Courier Mail 21/4/06"

Uranium Mining, Processing and Nuclear Energy — Opportunities for Australia?

Queensland has some 30 major dams (ie. dams with a storage capacity of over 50 000 megalitres), most of them owned by the State owned SunWater Corporation. Map 8 shows their locations. The replacement value of these assets is estimated to be some $2.5 billion. In addition, local governments own water supply, water treatment and wastewater infrastructure with an estimated replacement value of $18 billion. Water Boards, mining companies and individual landholders own other water infrastructure. Total water use within the State is approaching 3.5 million megalitres per annum. By comparison, the mean annual discharge of all Queensland streams is some 159 million megalitres. A large proportion of the mean annual discharge is in the sparsely populated and largely undeveloped Cape York Peninsula and North West region. Of the water consumed annually, about 65% is used for agricultural irrigation, 17% for urban purposes, 14% for stock and rural domestic purposes and 4% for industry, particularly power generation. The Government has several broad strategies to maximise the sustainable supply of water to support economic growth in industries requiring water. These strategies are focused on planning for sustainable development, facilitating greater water trading, improving water use efficiency and encouraging water-recycling opportunities.

To support this purpose, the Bill seeks to: • provide a scheme for certain projects of significance, declared by the Minister as prescribed projects, that will prevent unreasonable delays in the assessment and decision stage for necessary approvals, licenses, permits or other authorities. The declaration of ‘prescribed project’ by the Minister will allow the Coordinator-General to: • require the decision maker to make a decision or undertake the process related to the prescribed decision or process within a prescribed time period; and/or • assume the role of decision maker in relation to a prescribed decision or process and assess and make the decision. • allow the Coordinator-General to impose conditions on, or seek a voluntary environmental agreement from the applicant of a prescribed project as a means of preventing, controlling or mitigating environmental impacts directly related to the prescribed project; • provide for more than one Deputy Coordinator-General, as a means to ensure that the Coordinator-General has appropriate administrative and operational assistance and resources to meet the increased workload related to the State’s immediate and long term growth requirements;

The inclusion of a provision that effectively removes the right to review or appeal of a decision made under this part and removes the right to judicial review under the Judicial Review Act 1991 for those prescribed projects which are classed as critical infrastructure Currently the CG may take or otherwise acquire land situated in a State development area for the purpose of providing for the establishment of industry or essential services. There is some doubt whether the CG may also take or otherwise acquire land for the purpose of infrastructure corridors (for one or more users and/or uses) as part of establishing industry or essential services. Clause 40 amends the acquisition powers in Part 6 (Planned Development) to provide that the CG may also take or otherwise acquire land for the purpose of establishing infrastructure corridors. Clause 40 amends s 82 (Acquisition of land in State development area) to provide for declaration of a State development area for the establishment of an infrastructure corridor for one of more uses and/or users, thereby enabling the CG to compulsory acquire that land. These corridors may be directly associated with existing State development areas or for corridors established for one or more uses or users. It is proposed that the CG control the use of the land through licences with service providers for infrastructure such as gas and water pipelines, conveyors and electricity transmission lines, and other infrastructure as required.

State Development and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006

Regional Forest Agreements recognise that Commonwealth and State governments have a range of obligations and interests relating to the protection of forest values and to the sustainable use and development of forest resources. RFAs are designed to reduce uncertainty, duplication and fragmentation of decision making to meet these obligations through a durable agreement on the management and use of forests. This facilitates timely land use planning and development decisions while protecting environmental, heritage and cultural values and providing industry with secure access to forest resources.

ADDENDUM TO TRAVESTON CROSSING DAM IAS The Initial Advice Statement (IAS) was submitted to the Coordinator General’s Office in October 2006 to seek declaration of the project as a “significant project” under the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971. Since that time, as stated in the IAS, the project design has been progressed and therefore some of the key figures quoted in the document have been revised. The refined figures are presented in the table below. As design is ongoing and the EIS process may itself lead to design or operational changes, further optimisation should be expected.

Released in December 2005 for a period of public consultation until February 2006. The prospect of a large dam at Traveston Crossing was not mentioned in the Draft Plan released for public consultation Wade through these documents with the help of the search command in your word processor and see if you can find any instance of the word 'Traveston'.

The Draft Water Resource Plan released for public consultation in December 2005 specifically states that it refers to no specific infrastructure developments on the Mary River.

The long term solution offered is comprehensive and responds to the likely needs for water well into the second half of this century. Nevertheless, the region’s current supplies are vulnerable now and need to be supplemented in ways that are acceptable to the community. Major works are already in train, including the Tugun desalination plant, the Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme which will provide water to power stations and industry, the Southern Regional Water Pipeline which will transfer desalinated water to Brisbane and surrounding areas. These works will only address short term

Here is an outline of the State Government's take on fully tradeable water rights.