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Upper Burnett
Scheme
Announced Allocations
(John Goleby)
Storages
Water Pricing
Scheme information
About
The Upper Burnett Scheme consists of four storages which provides irrigation and urban water supply to the Upper Burnett region.
How the scheme works
- The scheme consists of four storages: Wuruma Dam, John Goleby Weir, Jones Weir and Claude Wharton Weir
- The major storage for the scheme is Wuruma Dam which was designed to maintain a regulated supply
- The dam, together with the Mundubbera Weir, supply water to irrigate some 4,450ha of land along 165km of the Burnett River to Mingo crossing.
Water uses
- Irrigation water for citrus, small crops and dairy farming
- Urban water supply for the towns of Eidsvold, Mundubbera and Gayndah.
Scheme Management
Sunwater must comply with the conditions set out in the Upper Burnett Water Supply Scheme Resource Operations Licence (ROL), issued to Sunwater in June 2007 by our portfolio shareholding department. The ROL outlines the infrastructure details, environmental release rules and all Sunwater’s monitoring and reporting obligations. The ROL also requires Sunwater to operate in accordance with an operations manual that is approved by our portfolio shareholding department. The operations manual outlines rules for the operation of infrastructure associated with the Upper Burnett scheme as well as water sharing rules and seasonal water assignment (temporary trade) rules.
The Upper Burnett Water Supply Scheme ROL Operations Manual was issued in February 2020. An amendment to correct administrative and typographical errors was approved by our portfolio shareholding department on 27 November 2020. A statement of changes to the operations manual can be found on the second page of this manual.
Sunwater focuses our resources towards timely and cost-efficient delivery of water to customers in the Upper Burnett scheme. We collaborate with our customers to ensure we understand their needs, adapt quickly to changes in the environment and make the most of the available water supply. To best manage 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:
- Sunwater Online
- Sunwater Customer Support on 13 15 89
Further information about ordering water is detailed in Upper Burnett’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 widespread general rain exceeds 40 mm in a day over the Upper Burnett 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 13 15 89 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week).
Upper Burnett’s Irrigator Advisory Committee
The Upper Burnett 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 Trott | Chairperson | Section 2 (ponded area of the Jones Weir only) |
| Greg Green | Committee Member | Section 1 (all area above the ponded area of Jones Weir) |
| Alan Voss | Committee Member | Section 1 (all area above the ponded area of Jones Weir) |
| David Wagne | Committee Member | Section 2 (ponded area of the Jones Weir only) |
| Vacant | Committee Member | Section 3 (all area below Jones Weir excluding ponded area of Claude Wharton Weir) |
| Vacant | Committee Member | Section 3 (all area below Jones Weir excluding ponded area of Claude Wharton Weir) |
| Les Darrow | Committee Member | Section 4 (ponded area of Claude Wharton Weir) |
| Judy Shepherd | Committee Member | Section 5 (all area in scheme below ponded area of the Claude Wharton Weir) |
| Chris Benham | Committee Member | Section 5 (all area in scheme below ponded area of the Claude Wharton Weir) |
| Cr Faye Whelan | Council Representative | North Burnett Regional Council |
| Vacant | Council Representative | North Burnett Regional Council |
Stay up to date with the Upper Burnett Irrigator Advisory Committee.
Announced Allocations
Water Year: 2024/2025
| 2023/2024 to 2024/2025 Carryover Parameters – Cap 915.2 ML with 15.386% pro rata and 25% loss factor. Applies to all sub schemes excluding John Goleby Weir. For more information about the scheme’s carryover conditions click here. |
Wuruma Subscheme
High priority: 100%
Medium priority: 100%
Announced Allocations effective 1 July 2024 and will be applicable until revised and communicated by Sunwater.
Kirar Subscheme
High priority: 100%
Medium priority: 100%
Announced Allocations effective 1 July 2024 and will be applicable until revised and communicated by Sunwater.
Jones Subscheme
High priority: 100%
Medium priority: 100%
Announced Allocations effective 1 July 2024 and will be applicable until revised and communicated by Sunwater.
Claude Wharton Subscheme
High priority: 100%
Medium priority: 100%
Announced Allocations effective 1 July 2024 and will be applicable until revised and communicated by Sunwater.
John Goleby Subscheme
Medium priority: 100%
Announced Allocations effective 15 August 2024 and will be applicable until revised and communicated by Sunwater.
13 December 2024: Due to John Goleby Weir commencing to overflow the start of a subsequent water period for the John Goleby Subscheme has been activated. As per section 25 (4) of the Burnett Basin Upper Burnett Water Supply Scheme Operations Manual (November 2020) in a subsequent water period in the water year the ROL holder may supply, and the holder of the water allocation may take, the nominal volume (i.e. 100%) for the water allocation.
As per section 25 (5) of the Burnett Basin Upper Burnett Water Supply Scheme Operations Manual (November 2020) the total volume of water supplied or taken under the water allocation in the water year must not exceed 2.5 times the nominal volume for the water allocation.
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 reports
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.
We have updated the naming convention for S&PPs to improve clarity and alignment with plan content. The new convention references the year in which the S&PP is published (or should have been published). Publication should occur within six months of the end of a financial year.
For further information about this service, please visit the Service and Performance Plan page.
Scheme news
Scheme history
Upper Burnett Water Supply Scheme
Gayndah lays claim to be the oldest town in Queensland (the older Brisbane and Ipswich are cities). One of the oldest species of fish also lives here, the Queensland lungfish, found only in the Burnett and neighbouring Mary rivers. The Queensland government’s protection of this rare fish in 1914 is one of Australia’s earliest acts of conservation.
The scheme is named after James Burnett who surveyed the river in 1847. It consists of four storages - Wuruma Dam, John Goleby Weir, Jones Weir and Claude Wharton Weir.
Jones Weir is one of the oldest concrete weirs commissioned in Queensland and was constructed in 1951 supplying water to the district’s fledgling citrus and dairy industries of this culturally and economically rich region. The scheme supplies water to irrigate some 4,450 ha of land along 165 km of the Burnett River and delivers urban water to the towns of Eidsvold, Mundubbera and Gayndah.