Traveston Crossing Dam

Infobox_lake
lake_name = Traveston Crossing Dam (Proposed)
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location = 16km South of Gympie, Queensland
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type = reservoir
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basin_countries = Australia
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volume = 153,000 ML
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Traveston Crossing Dam is a water project that was initiated by the government of Queensland, Australia, in 2006 as a result to a prolonged drought situation which saw South-East Queensland's dam catchement area receive record-low rain.

The dam is proposed to stretch from the Traveston Crossing Bridge near Amamoor, 160 km north of Brisbane, south and will affect the areas surrounding Bergins Pocket and Kadanga. The dam will also affect major transport arteries through the area, including QR's North Coast Line and the Bruce Highway.
[http://www.dip.qld.gov.au/resources/map/Traveston_Dam_map_proposed.pdf See Map (pdf)]

Construction phases

The Traveston Crossing Dam will be developed in three phases to progressively meet demand and to reduce immediate landholder and road relocation impacts:
*Phase 1- 2011 Traveston Crossing Dam built with an operating capacity of 153,000 megalitres (ML) and a yield of 70,000 ML per annum;
*Phase 2 - 2025 raising of Borumba Dam by about 30 metres to a 350,000 ML capacity to deliver an extra 40,000 ML per annum; and
*Phase 3 (if required) - 2035 full operation of Traveston Crossing Dam will have a capacity of 570,000 ML with a yield of 150,000 ML per annum.

In 2007, the Federal Government of Australia held a Senate Inquiry which is available from [http://www.aph.gov.au/senate here]

Public opposition

The dam is strongly opposed. The opposition comes not only from some of the local residents who have refused to take part in the land buy back but also by numerous others. Some of the many groups opposed to the damn include:

Senator Bob Brown "said the dam should be opposed because it would flood thousands of hectares of prime food producing land near Brisbane, Aboriginal heritage sites and the main nursery for the world famous Australian Lungfish."I've told the minister there is no way he should allow the major breeding ground for the Australian Lungfish or the Mary River Turtle, or Mary River Cod, to be obliterated," Senator Brown said." (http://www.nit.com.au/breakingNews/story.aspx?id=15976)

The Gubbi Gubbi Aboriginal people whose land will be effected by the dam. When offered an agreement by the Queensland government worth more than $1 million the Gubbi Gubbi people flatly refused. Regarding the Mary River Dam Dr Eve Fesl stated, “We said we would have nothing to do with it. We’re not going to sign away our history, our culture, the Mary Valley. No way,” and, “They couldn’t give a damn about the Mary River. They saw the dollar signs and they wet their pants,” she said." (http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2007/dec/03/many-faces-eve/) She also stated, "Our whole history and culture will be washed out if that dam is built. But not only that, a number of threatened species could be wiped out,” Dr Fesl said. (http://swampnews.squarespace.com/media-watch2/2008/3/28/steve-posselts-kayak-trip-to-save-mary.html)

Australian Conservation Foundation who are fighting for the protection of species such as the unique Mary River Turtle, The Queensland Lungfish and the Mary River Cod (http://www.acfonline.org.au/default.asp?section_id=249&eid=6720&c=16942).

Sunshine Coast Government MPs and environnmentalists "called on the State Government to scrap the Traveston Dam after it yesterday revealed plans for desalination plants at Marcoola, Kawana and Bribie Island." (http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2008/mar/27/scrap-traveston-dam-say-desal-supporters) and Bob Abbot, "told thedaily.com.au the announcement confirmed what the Mary River council of mayors had been saying more than a year ago - that the Traveston Dam should be scrapped - and that alternatives such as desalination properly explored." and Fiona Simpson has stated, "this strategy and the Water Commissioner’s comments left no doubt that the Traveston Dam was a political decision and desalination was a better and more reliable option." (http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2008/mar/27/scrap-traveston-dam-say-desal-supporters)

The University of Technology Sydney report which stated "THE proposed Traveston Dam near Gympie could pump up to 400,000 tonnes of greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere each year" and “Even desalination, itself a last resort in a severe drought, would result in fewer emissions at 280,000 to 350,000 (annual tonnes) to yield the same quantity of water,” (Courier Mail, Michael Madigan and Glenis GreenJuly 08, 2008).

Eighty five per cent of Brisbane residents "Eighty five per cent of Brisbane residents agree “the Queensland Government should consider alternatives to building Traveston Dam” according to a poll released by the Australian Conservation Foundation" (http://www.acfonline.org.au/articles/news.asp?news_id=1751&c=16128)

World Expo 2008 - Spain

World heritage listed Fraser Island and those impacted down stream of the dam The great sandy strait depends on the Mary river to sustain its complex ecosystem. Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world and is also of huge significance to Aboriginal Australian history. "The Great Sandy Strait lies between the western fringes of World Heritage Listed Fraser Island and the south-east Queensland coast. Most of its eastern side is within the World Heritage Area and its beauty and unique ecology attract thousands of tourists annually. It is listed under the Ramsar Convention as a Wetland of International Significance and is also one of Australia’s most important nesting sites for migratory trans-equatorial shorebirds."(http://www.ourgreatsandy.com/)

Federal Shadow Environment Minister Greg Hunt who stated, “I look at this site and I think this is about the worst example of a possible dam site in Australia.”

Steve Posselt - www.kayak4earth.com - Don't Murray the Mary Environmental campaigner Steve Posselt who protested the dam buy kayaking 861-kilometres to raise awareness of the environmental impact of damming the Mary River. "Traveston Crossing Dam will be less than 2m deep over a great percentage of its area. Evaporation is somewhere between 1.5 and 2m per annum. Wivenhoe dam is not a deep dam and suffers similarly from significant greenhouse gas generation. The longer the water level is low between fills, the more vegetation regeneration occurs. There is no escaping the fact that on an average annual basis large volumes of methane are produced when this vegetation rots. Methane is more than twenty times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than CO2." (www.kayak4earth.com)

External links

* [http://www.savethemaryriver.com Save the Mary River]
* [http://www.qldwi.com.au/projects/index.shtm Queensland Water Infrastructure Pty Ltd - Projects]
* [http://www.oum.qld.gov.au/?id=54 Office of Urban Management - Fact Sheet, 2006]
* [http://www.qwc.qld.gov.au/myfiles/uploads/fact%20sheets/Traveston%20Crossing%20Dam.pdf Queensland Water Commission - Fact Sheet, Aug-2007]