Rookwood Weir, Australia’s newest major water infrastructure asset, has delivered first water to Central Queensland irrigators.
Queensland Water Minister, Glenn Butcher, joined local irrigators to celebrate the start of water deliveries to Central Queensland. This milestone marks a significant regional achievement and a major boost to agricultural productivity.
Federal Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek, said it was wonderful to see water flowing from Rookwood Weir onto the farms of Central Queensland.
“Water from the weir will support primary industry, from grain, fruit and nut cropping to livestock production.”
It is estimated that at least 500 full-time jobs will be created through agricultural growth thanks to Rookwood Weir.
Rural Funds Management is the first customer to take water from the weir to irrigate macadamia orchards in the Lower Fitzroy. The water from Rookwood Weir is enabling the company to plant 800,000 macadamia trees over 2,500ha of orchards within the Fitzroy region, west of Rockhampton. More weir customers are expected to use water for their operations in the coming weeks and months.
Mr Butcher said that water from the weir being available is an important milestone and the culmination of years of planning and hard work.
“This asset will yield 86,000ML each year to boost economic growth, agricultural production and industry in Central Queensland.”
The weir will significantly improve the region’s water security and drive economic growth and job creation for future generations.
More than 36,000ML of water from the weir have been allocated to agricultural use, and a mix of small businesses and larger enterprises can now expand or diversify their operations.
In July, the Infrastructure Sustainability Council awarded the Rookwood Weir project an ‘excellent’ rating for its sustainability performance during construction.
This recognition follows the project winning the 2023 Premier’s Award for Excellence and being named joint winner of the Queensland Major Contractors Association’s Project of the Year Over $100M Award.
Sunwater CEO, Glenn Stockton, said, “This is the culmination of years of hard work by hundreds of people to plan, construct and deliver Rookwood Weir.
“It is great to see businesses now taking water. Sunwater looks forward to partnering with our customers in the years to come to deliver water for prosperity across Central Queensland.”
The Queensland and Federal Governments each contributed $183.6 million to the total $568.9 million project spend, and Sunwater funded the remainder. Construction of the weir was completed in November 2023, while the process to test the weir’s infrastructure was finalised in April 2024.
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