Rookwood Weir Project – Water Sales

Tender One provided the opportunity to purchase upwards of 30,000 megalitres (ML) of medium priority (MP) water for agricultural and non-urban use. The invitation to tender (ITT) for Tender One closed on 21 July 2020.

7,500 ML of medium priority (MP) water allocations per annum was made available for Tender Two.

Tender Two was targeted towards smaller scale irrigated agriculture with bids ranging from 10 ML up to 500 ML (inclusive).

The tender process was managed through the QTenders website.

Due to ongoing landholder interest in the Tender Two water sales, the Request for Information (RFI) period was extended to 5:00pm AEST on Friday 3 February 2023 with the tender closing at 2:00pm AEST on Friday 17 February 2023.

The expression of interest (EOI) for landholders to nominate their interest in obtaining assistance from Sunwater to prepare for Tender Two closed on 30 November 2020.

It was not a requirement to submit an EOI to participate in Tender Two or to apply for a support package. The EOI process gave participants an opportunity to  provide feedback which was considered when designing the support packages available to landholders for Tender Two. 

In September 2021 Advance Rockhampton, an arm of Rockhampton Regional Council, launched the Rookwood Weir Landholder Support Program on behalf of Sunwater. The program closed at the end of October 2022.

Feedback collected through the EOI process was used to design support packages to meet landholder needs and build on previous work undertaken such as land suitability, crop market and economic analysis.

While the grants program has now closed, information on landholder support is still available under the Landholder Support Program sub-heading of this page.

• Rookwood Weir Water Allocation Sales: Landholder Opportunities Overview – examples of how other growers have used supplemented water to grow their business
• Rookwood Weir Water Allocation Sales – Landholder Expression of Interest brochure – provides further information about how landholders can prepare for Tender Two water sales (2022)  
• Rookwood Weir Project Calendar 2020-2023 – what’s happening across water planning, water sales and construction of Rookwood Weir
• reef protection regulations – any purchaser of water from the Rookwood Weir will need to comply with the requirements of the Reef Protection Regulations which can be found here.
• The Sunwater Rookwood Weir Water Allocation Sales: Information Memorandum (see also the Appendix H addendum) provides detailed information about the opportunities available to landholders considering a water allocation from Rookwood Weir to grow their business enterprise.

With the development of Rookwood Weir, landholders in the Lower Fitzroy region were provided the unique opportunity to bid for supplemented water to grow their business as part of Sunwater’s Tender Two water sales process.

For landholders, access to this water could mean future crop irrigation potential, the establishment of orchards, or the expansion of existing agricultural operations.

To assist landholders in understanding and capitalising on the opportunities made available by securing water through the Rookwood Weir Tender Two process, Advance Rockhampton facilitated the Rookwood Weir Landholder Support Program on Sunwater’s behalf.

A variety of support tools and a grants program were released throughout 2021 and 2022 to assist landholders to further understand and assess the options available to them. More information on this is available below.