The Gladstone Area Water Board proposes to construct a water pipeline between the Fitzroy River to Gladstone Area Water Board’s existing water infrastructure at Yarwun.
Project elements include:

• an underground pipeline approximately 115 km long from Laurel Bank near Rockhampton to a connection with Gladstone Area Water Board’s existing infrastructure near Yarwun just north of Gladstone
• an intake and pump station on the Fitzroy River at Laurel Bank
• a water treatment plant, reservoir and pump station at Alton Downs
• a booster pump station and reservoir at Raglan
• a reservoir at Aldoga.

The pipeline is intended to run within the proposed Stanwell—Gladstone Infrastructure Corridor for the majority of its length and then connect with existing Gladstone water infrastructure within the Gladstone State Development Area.

The assessment of the proposed pipeline is separate from the approval of any future allocation of water from the Fitzroy River.

The project is expected to require a capital investment of approximately $345 million and it is anticipated that 200 jobs will be created during construction and up to 10 jobs during operation. The project will also indirectly contribute to the creation of a further 300 jobs once operational.

GAWB currently relies on the Awoonga Dam as its sole source of water. With the expanding industrial area and the continuing drought conditions, there is a growing need to provide a reliable supply of water for growth of current consumers and future demands.

Environmental impact assessment process

On 26 July 2007 the Coordinator-General declared the Gladstone – Fitzroy Pipeline project to be a 'significant project for which an environmental impact statement (EIS) is required in accordance with Part 4 of the State Development and Public Works Act 1971 (Qld).

On 11 July 2007, the former Federal Minister for the Department of the Environment and Water Resources determined that the project is a ‘controlled action’ under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cwlth). The Part 3, Division 1, controlling provisions are:

• listed threatened species and communities (sections 18 & 18A).

The Department of Infrastructure and Planning is managing the EIS process on behalf of the Coordinator-General. The EIS process, accredited under a bilateral agreement, will address matters on behalf of both the state and federal governments. The preparation of the draft terms of reference (TOR)  is the first stage of the EIS process. 

A draft TOR was advertised for public comment on 25 August 2007 for a period of four weeks. Comments received on the draft TOR have been reviewed and those considered relevant have been incorporated into the final TOR.

The environmental impact statement (EIS) was available for public review from Monday 3 November 2008 to Monday 15 December 2008.

The full supplementary environmental impact statement (SEIS) is now available for public viewing from the Gladstone Area Water Board website.

A summary of the SEIS is available for download or viewing:

• Supplementary EIS summary report ( 946 KB)

Resources

The initial advice statement, terms of reference and EIS executive summary are available for viewing or download:

• Initial advice statement ( 4.40 MB)
• Terms of reference ( 361 KB)
• EIS executive summary ( 1.70 MB)

Further information

For more information regarding the project visit the Gladstone Area Water Board website.

For further information regarding the EIS process for the project, contact the Infrastructure and Economic Development Group and address your enquiry to the Gladstone-Fitzroy Pipeline Project.