Toowoomba Regional Council’s Cressbrook Dam Safety Improvement Project is set to boost water security and disaster resilience for the region.
The Queensland Government is supporting the project with an investment of $54 million, which will help deliver a long-awaited mandatory upgrade of the asset’s spillways.
The project will help enhance the safety of the dam wall for downstream communities during major flooding events by enabling a greater volume of outflow via an expanded spillway, as well as providing better dam monitoring systems.
The improvements will secure the key source of the region’s water supply, which is one of three dams servicing more than 180,000 residents.
The investment comprises roughly 20 per cent of the Council’s estimated $266.1 million cost to complete the project.
Treasurer and Member for Toowoomba South, David Janetzki, said that the investment would help the council deliver on its legislated obligations.
“This project has been known to the Toowoomba Regional Council for more than 15 years, but it has failed to properly prepare and budget for the project,” Janetzki said.
“Council has recently taken proactive steps to budget and seek additional funding to support their construction efforts and the state’s contribution will now empower them to deliver the upgrade and secure our region’s water future.”
Mr Janetzki said the safety upgrades would also support the progression of Stanwell’s proposed Big T pumped hydro project at Cressbrook Dam.
“This investment also complements the state budget investment of $38.1 million to progress ongoing development of the Big T project, which is being developed in partnership with the private sector.”
The Big T project could create 400MW of continuous clean energy for up to ten hours a day and a battery storage system with capacity of 200MW hours.
Queensland Minister for Local Government and Water, Ann Leahy, said that the investment was part of the State Government’s commitment to deliver long-term water security across Queensland.
“Working with councils to upgrade and maintain their critical water assets ensures our regional communities have the certainty they need to grow, invest and prosper,” Leahy said.
