Statewide water program of works

In December 2007, the Governor in Council approved, under the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 (SDPWO Act), the establishment of a statewide water program of works.

The program of works was established to facilitate the development of water infrastructure projects (through to business-case stage) at a time of widespread drought in Queensland.

These projects include new dams, weirs and pipelines, and the raising of existing storages, namely:

  • Connors River Dam and Pipelines
  • Fitzroy to Gladstone Pipeline
  • Kinchant Dam Raising
  • Lower Fitzroy River Infrastructure Projects (Rockwood Weir and Eden Bann Weir raising)
  • Nathan Dam
  • Nullinga Dam
  • Water for Bowen
  • Water for Proserpine.

For each project, the program of works describes:

  • the proponent
  • studies and investigations (up to securing approvals and the development of a business case)
  • budgetary allocations
  • timeframes for delivery
  • reporting requirements.

Administrative responsibility

In January 2010, administrative responsibility for the program of works was transferred from the then Department of Infrastructure and Planning to the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM).

Amended program of works

In June 2011, following a review by DERM and the Coordinator-General, the program of works was amended. Key elements of the amendment include:

  • addition of specific statement about the purpose of the program of works, including facilitating the construction of the Connors River Dam and Pipelines Project
  • removal of requirement for business cases to be submitted to, and approved by, the Coordinator-General, as other arrangements, such as shareholding Minister approvals, exist
  • formation of a high-level, interagency regional water infrastructure planning forum
  • completion of outstanding engineering, environmental, cultural heritage and native title assessments and approvals for:
    • Nathan Dam
    • Lower Fitzroy River Infrastructure Project
    • Fitzroy to Gladstone Pipeline
    • Water for Bowen Project
  • assessments - during the preparation of regional water supply strategies - to define future regional water infrastructure requirements

Download amended program of works

Amended Program of Works, Statewide Water Grid, Regional Water Infrastructure Projects, Notification (No 1) 2011 (PDF, 112 kB)

Quarterly progress reports

Since February 2010, DERM has published quarterly progress reports on the projects listed in the program of works.

Prior to that, the reports were published by the Coordinator-General.

See previous quarterly progress reports.

Statewide water policy

The program of works stems from a statewide water policy, which commits nearly $500 million to regional water projects.

These projects, which complement the South East Queensland Water Grid, will improve the reliability of water supplies in regional and rural Queensland.

Download original program of works

Establishment of Program of Works, Statewide Water Grid, Regional Water Infrastructure Projects, Notification (No 3) 2007 (PDF, 2.1 MB)