By Jeremy Sollars
The Granite Belt Irrigation Project – the commercial entity driving the proposed Emu Swamp Dam near Stanthorpe – says civil contractors “have been given a shot of good news with confirmation one of Queensland’s first new dams in a decade will be releasing construction tenders from the middle of this year”.
In a statement released late last week GBIP chairman Dan Hunt said the group “plans to release the dam construction tender in July 2020 with (tenders for) the pump stations and pipelines following later in the year”, with those tenders together worth an estimated $60 million.
GBIP says it expects construction of the dam to commence in early 2021.
The project has been decades in the making and has long been the subject of political power-plays between state and federal governments, with the Queensland Palaszczuk Government saying its total funding share of $13.6 million will be dependent on the dam being delivered at the estimated overall cost of $84 million, without cost “overruns”.
The Queensland Government recently released $6 million of its funding share to kick-start the construction tender process.
“The Granite Belt Irrigation Project (GBIP) will deliver a 12,000 megalitre dam at Emu Swamp, south-west of Stanthorpe, and 117km of pipeline to provide water to 51 agribusiness customers,” Mr Hunt said last week.
“With committed government and private funding, high levels of community support and significant local subcontracting capacity we are anticipating strong contractor competition to deliver infrastructure that will transform the Granite Belt’s water security.
“This project is desperately needed in a premium food bowl region that virtually ran out of water in early 2020.
“As a result of our thorough work, we have committed funding of $23.4 million from local irrigators – the highest proportion of private investment in water infrastructure in Queensland’s history – $47 million from the Australian Government and a conditional commitment of $13.6 million from the Queensland Government.”
Mr Hunt said “pre-tender milestones delivered by GBIP to confirm the project’s viability include a $3 million detailed business case approved by the Federal and State governments, environmental approvals secured, and irrigator commitment to purchase water entitlements for the 3900ML scheme”.
“The Queensland Government recently allocated $6 million of its funds to take the project through to an expected construction start in early 2021, including managing the tender process,” Mr Hunt said.
• Interested contractors can source additional information before the tenders are released by Emailing info@granitebeltirrigationproject.com.au
NO NEWS ON PIPELINE…
Meanwhile there’s no update from the Queensland Government on a proposed pipeline to connect Warwick and Stanthorpe to Toowoomba’s water supply from Wivenhoe Dam.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk visited Warwick in January and announced her government would seek to “fast-track” the project using its powers through its Coordinator-General’s office.
The Premier stopped short of fully committing to the 90km pipeline – she did not release any detail on costings during her January Warwick visit – and said any further announcements would be made as part of the 2020-2021 Queensland Budget, which had been due for release in April.
Ms Palaszczuk has since said the state budget will be delayed due to COVID-19 but has given no timeframe as yet, and has not made any further statements about the Toowoomba-Warwick pipeline.
