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Bundaberg
Scheme
Announced Allocations
(Burnett)
(Burnett)
(Kolan)
(Kolan)
Storages
Water Pricing
Scheme information
About
The Bundaberg Scheme supplies water to farmlands and communities in Burnett, Kolan and Isis Shire as well as Bundaberg city. The scheme sources water from Fred Haigh and Paradise Dam.
Burnett Water
Burnett Water Pty Ltd (BWPL) became a subsidiary company of Sunwater on 16 December 2005 after Sunwater bought all the shares in the company from the Queensland State Government.
BWPL was set up by the State Government in 2001 to progress much needed water infrastructure in the Wide Bay-Burnett region. The water infrastructure construction projects developed by Burnett Water were Paradise Dam and Kirar Weir.
Paradise Dam is located 80kms from Bundaberg and makes available 124,000 megalitres of Medium Priority and 20,000 megalitres of High Priority Water Allocations. Kirar Weir is situated on the Burnett River, 5kms for Eidsvold, and makes available 20,000 megalitres of Medium Priority Water Allocations.
How the scheme works
- More than 600km of channel and pipeline distribute supplies to more than 1,000 properties
- The scheme consists of seven distinct channel systems that supplement or replace demand for groundwater in the district
- More information about the scheme is available in a Fact Sheet located here.
Water uses
- Irrigation water for crops including sugar cane, tomatoes, rockmelons, watermelons, capsicum, zucchini, beans, macadamia nuts and avocados
- Urban water supply for Bundaberg and communities in the Burnett, Kolan and Isis Shires
- Industrial water for various enterprise including sugar mills.
Opportunistic access to Paradise Dam water releases
With the completion of the lowering activity at Paradise Dam, Sunwater no longer needs to conduct water releases to maintain a safe working environment. The dam is now able to fill to the temporary crest level.
No further out-of-allocation water events are currently anticipated. The current water permits issued to customers, or others from the community, who accessed out-of-allocation water directly from the Burnett River and the Elliott and Gregory catchments (including Mahogany Creek) will expire on 30 June 2021 and will not be reissued.
Previous water release events occurred during:
- September to December 2019
- February to June 2020.
Scheme Management
Sunwater must comply with the conditions set out in the Bundaberg Water Supply Scheme Resource Operations Licence (ROL) published here. The ROL states the infrastructure details, environmental release rules and all monitoring and reporting obligations required by Sunwater. The ROL also requires Sunwater to operate in accordance with an operations manual that is approved by the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy (DNRME). The operations manual states rules for the operation of infrastructure associated with the Bundaberg scheme as well as water sharing rules and seasonal water assignment (temporary trade) rules.
The Bundaberg Water Supply Scheme ROL Operations Manual was issued in February 2020. An amendment which commenced on 1 July 2020 was approved by DNRME on 20 March 2020. A statement of changes to the operations manual can be found on the second page of this manual.
Sunwater aims to achieve the efficient delivery of water to customers in the Bundaberg scheme that best meets their needs. To manage this water delivery, arrangements for taking of water within the Scheme have been developed in consultation with its Irrigator Advisory Committee.
Taking water from the scheme
The water ordering system assists Sunwater in delivering water to its customers in an efficient and timely way, enabling them to plan and manage their water use.
Before taking any water, customers should place a water order so that Sunwater can release sufficient water and minimise losses.
Customers who take water without ordering may reduce Sunwater’s ability to supply customers who have ordered according to the above requirements.
To place an order
Customers can place their orders via:
- SunwaterOnline.
- Sunwater Customer Support on 13 15 89
Further information about ordering water is detailed in Bundaberg’s Rules and Targets.
Stopping or restricting supply
Sunwater may suspend or restrict supply in a number of circumstances, including:
- during maintenance of Sunwater’s assets
- during a peak demand period, when rosters or rations may apply
- when the demand for water is so small it is impractical to supply it
- when there is a need to make special releases to maximise efficiency at times of limited supply
- during rain shutdown
- infrastructure limitations which make delivery impractical
- if supply could cause Sunwater to break the law
- when operating under special notices or regulations issued by the Department of Natural Resources and Mines {e.g. Water Amendment Regulation (No.3) 2006}.
Weather events and emergency shutdowns
Sunwater asks that customers notify their duty Water Officer, as soon as possible, of any rain event or other circumstances that substantially lessens their water requirements. When wide spread general rain exceeds 40 mm in a day over the Bundaberg Water Supply Scheme, the duty Water Officer may shut the system down.
Customers are also asked to cancel orders if they no longer require ordered water.
For more information contact
If you experience an equipment or power failure emergency, please give immediate notice to Sunwater by calling Sunwater Customer Support on 131589 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Bundaberg’s Irrigator Advisory Committee
The Bundaberg Irrigator Advisory Committee is a group of irrigators within the scheme that have been elected by irrigation customers to represent their interests in relation to scheme operations and water supply issues and improvements with Sunwater.
The committee:
- provides advice and recommendations to Sunwater regarding scheme operational issues
- represents the interests of the broader irrigator base in respect of Sunwater’s ongoing operation of the water supply scheme
- provides a mechanism for Sunwater and its customers to raise and discuss matters of mutual interest in relation to the management of the physical aspects of the scheme and customer relationship issues.
- work collaboratively with Sunwater to identify and introduce new approaches and improvements to water management.
Committee members
| Name | Position | Representative Area/Section |
| Mark Mammino | Chairman | Canegrowers Isis Ltd |
| Vacant | Committee Member | Kolan River |
| Peter McLennan | Committee Member | Burnett River |
| Tyler Bengston | Committee Member | Gin Gin |
| Peter Russo | Committee Member | Isis Channel System |
| Mark Pressler | Committee Member | Woongarra Channel System |
| Vacant | Committee Member | Gooburrum Channel System |
| Kelvin Griffin | Committee Member | Canegrowers Bundaberg |
| Bree Grima | Committee Member | Bundaberg Fruit & Vegetable Growers Cooperative (tree crops) |
| Jason Bartells | Committee Member | Bundaberg Regional Council |
| John Gorringe | Committee Member | Isis Central Sugar Mill |
| Angela Williams | Observer | Canegrowers Isis |
| Dale Hollis | Observer | Bundaberg Regional Irrigators Committee |
| Simon Doyle | Committee Member | Bundaberg Sugar |
Sunwater is currently consulting with Bundaberg customers regarding the potential trial of an electricity cost pass-through mechanism. For more information about the consultation process, visit the Water Pricing Review page.
Stay up to date with the Bundaberg Irrigator Advisory Committee.
Announced Allocations
Water Year: 2020/2021
Burnett Sub-scheme
High priority: 100%
Medium priority: 100% (previously 75%)
Announced Allocations effective 1 April 2021 and applicable until revised and communicated by Sunwater.
Kolan Sub-scheme
High priority: 100%
Medium priority: 100%
Announced Allocations effective 1 July 2020 and applicable until revised and communicated by Sunwater.
| Date | Kolan Bulk Capacity Share (ML) | Burnett Bulk Capacity Share (ML) |
| 31.07.2020 | 263,723 | 57, 245 |
| 31.08.2020 | 258,677 | 56, 634 |
| 30.09.2020 | 251,260 | 55,793 |
| 31.10.2020 | 241,418 | 54,788 |
| 30.11.2020 | 225,360 | 52,903 |
| 31.12.2020 | 214,629 | 51,372 |
| 31.01.2021 | 206,365 | 50,530 |
| 28.02.2021 | 194,167 | 47,752 |
| 31.03.2021 | 190,255 | 47,341 |
| 30.04.2021 | 185,923 | 46,678 |
| 31.05.2021 | 177,889 | 45,596 |
Customers are advised to obtain information about their remaining water allocation balance by accessing SunwaterOnline.
For more information or enquiries, phone 13 15 89 or email customersupport@sunwater.com.au.
History of Announced Allocations
Operational Report
Sunwater releases periodic operational reports detailing Announced Allocation levels and individual storages’ breakdowns within each scheme, the latest of which can be found below.
Service and Performance Plans
Sunwater prepares an annual Service and Performance Plan (S&PP) for each irrigation service contract area. S&PPs replace the former annual Network Service Plans and annual Performance Reports.
For further information about this service, please visit the Service and Performance Plan page.
Bundaberg Bulk Supply
Bundaberg Distribution
Scheme news
Scheme updates and Fact Sheets
End of Water Year Newsletters
Interruption to water supply notices
Scheme history
Bundaberg Water Supply Scheme
Perhaps more than any other town in Queensland, Bundaberg is synonymous with the sugar industry. But with only about 1000 mm of annual rainfall, the area is one of the driest environments for growing sugar in Australia.
In the 1960s two things contributed to a growing water need — the amount of cane being farmed doubled as world demand for sugar soared, and three serious droughts in 1964, 1965 and 1969. As a result, the underground water source that agriculture in the region had primarily relied upon, dwindled and salinity started to rise.
In 1970, the Queensland Government implemented a two-stage plan to provide reliable water for the district. Today the scheme consists of more than 600 km of channels and pipelines, Fred Haigh and Paradise dams, Ned Churchward and Bucca weirs, and two barrages to supply water to more than 1,100 farms, the city of Bundaberg, and several other communities in the Burnett, Kolan and Isis shires.