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Cressbrook Dam is the Toowoomba Region’s main source of drinking water and is essential for the Region’s water security.
As a result of the revised dam safety requirements, Council is progressing the Cressbrook Dam Safety Improvement Project to improve the dam’s flood resilience, ensuring it can continue to perform safely under extreme weather and flood events. It will also mean downstream communities in the Somerset Region are better protected.
The project will widen the existing spillway and raise the dam crest level which will provide Cressbrook Dam with greater capacity to absorb these extreme rainfall events and to safely release excess water. Construction work will also include:
Although this critical upgrade project will improve water security and reduce risks to people and property associated with extreme flood events, the current project scope will not deliver additional water to the Region.
Construction will commence in early 2024, subject to approval of the final design by the State’s Dam Safety Regulator. It will be the largest dam safety project undertaken by a Queensland local government to date. It is also the largest capital project ever undertaken by Toowoomba Regional Council.
Council is partnering with SMEC and Seymour Whyte to complete construction by its required completion date of October 2025. To better manage risks and overall costs, the project will be delivered as an ‘Alliance’ contract.
The final project cost will be around $270 million. While Council acknowledges the criticality of this project, it will have to defer several other important projects if grant funding cannot be secured. These projects are necessary for Council to deliver on its obligations under the recently released Shaping SEQ Regional Plan, and specifically, the SEQ Infrastructure Plan.
Given the necessity to build and maintain critical services and infrastructure for a growing community, Council is seeking State and/or Federal government grant assistance to ensure the continued growth of the Region.
Without grant support, the project will be largely debt funded from the Queensland Treasury Corporation. This debt drawdown is likely to take Council to its maximum borrowing capacity and will negatively impact its financial sustainability. Council’s capacity to manage future adverse financial shocks will be diminished.
If grant funding is not secured, Council, by necessity, will have to defer planning and delivery of other major projects and review the range and levels of essential local government services offered to its residents.
Additionally, without grant funding, the full cost of the dam wall upgrade will be transferred to ratepayers through increased water charges. The average annual water bill for a residential ratepayer is currently $1,115. By 30 June 2029, the average annual water bill could grow to $1,710. While increases in construction costs over the past three years and increases in interest rates are playing their part, approximately $250 of this increase is due to the cost associated with this project.
For further information about the Cressbrook Dam Safety Improvement Project, please contact the project team by calling 131 872 or emailing damsafetyupgrades@tr.qld.gov.au.
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