Rookwood Weir draft operational documents available for public consultation

A four-week public consultation period has begun for Rookwood Weir’s draft operational documents. Individuals, businesses, and community groups with an interest in the operation of the Fitzroy River are welcome to provide feedback on these documents.

The publication of the Fitzroy Basin Water Plan by the Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water (DRDMW) in June 2021 has allowed Sunwater to finalise the draft Rookwood Weir operational documents which now provides certainty for stakeholders with an interest in the weir’s operation.

The development of these draft documents has resulted in no change to operations of the Fitzroy Barrage Water Supply Scheme, operated by Rockhampton Regional Council, and only a minor change to operations of the Lower Fitzroy Water Supply Scheme (LFWSS), operated by Sunwater.

 The following documents are available for review and feedback:

• Proposed Rookwood Weir Water Supply Scheme (RWWSS) Resource Operations Licence (ROL) – sets the requirements and conditions for the scheme operator.
• Proposed RWWSS Operations Manual – sets the operational rules for the scheme including water releases, water sharing rules and seasonal assignment rules (temporary trades).
• Amendment to the LFWSS Operations Manual – details increases in releases from Eden Bann Weir to the Fitzroy Barrage.
• Amendment to the Fitzroy Basin Water Management Protocol – to be made available on DRDMW’s website. The document will provide water dealing rules (permanent trading) for new Rookwood Weir allocations, amendments to the existing announced period for unsupplemented water allocations in the Fitzroy River, and amendments to unallocated water provisions.

 The documents can be downloaded from Sunwater and DRDMW websites at the following locations:

• Rookwood Weir Project Water Plan page
• RDMW’s Rookwood Weir consultation page.

As these are technical documents, Sunwater has prepared fact sheets on each of the operational documents to provide an overview of the proposed weir operations. These fact sheets are available on the websites listed above.

How to provide feedback

You can provide your feedback on the proposed Rookwood Weir operational documents to the following email addresses or attend a public information session, detailed further down this page.   

• rookwood.weir@sunwater.com.au
• fitzroywaterplan@rdmw.qld.gov.au.

Public information sessions

Representatives from both Sunwater and DRDMW will be available to answer your questions regarding the draft operational documents at the following public drop‑in sessions:

Tuesday 20 September 2022

• 9:00am to 12:00pm, Duaringa Rural Fire Brigade, 5 Edward St, Duaringa
• 1:00pm to 4:00pm, Gogango Town Hall, 12 Willis Street, Gogango.

Wednesday 21 September 2022

• 9:00am to 12:00pm Alton Downs Hall, 1569 Ridgelands Road (Cnr Nicholson Road)
• 1:00pm to 4:00pm Level 2, 220 Quay St, Rockhampton.

Please note that the public consultation period for these documents ends at 5:00pm on Monday 10 October 2022. Following the end of the consultation period, Sunwater and DRDMW will consider all submissions prior to finalising Rookwood Weir’s operational documents.