Queensland councils revive plans for Nathan Dam with $3.4b-plus price tag
After more than a century of false starts, a major Queensland dam project is back at the starting line and, as always, there is no promise it will ever finish the race.
First proposed in 1922 for the Dawson River near Taroom in central Queensland, the Nathan Dam has repeatedly stalled over the decades, most recently in 2021.
But with water security concerns across the region, regional leaders are uniting to urge the state government to fund a proper study into whether the $3.4 billion-plus dam project stacks up.
The revived plan, published by Western Downs Regional Council (WDRC) in 2023 and officially backed by Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) this week, includes building a dam 30 kilometres north-east of Taroom.
It would also involve a pipeline stretching more than 700km through the Western Downs to Toowoomba.
WDRC described Nathan Dam as "the most critical water project in modern Queensland history", with Mayor Andrew Smith citing urgent urban, agricultural and energy water needs.
"Water is becoming more like gold every day," Mr Smith said.
"A lot of our communities aren't too far away from approaching unsustainable levels."
Mr Smith said the dam was needed to support the region's booming agriculture and energy sectors.
Government AgTrends data showed the Toowoomba region was Queensland's top agricultural producer in 2023-24 with a gross value of production of $1.27 billion, followed by the Western Downs at $951 million.
"If the state wants the Western Downs to participate in the economy, we need to come up with a solution for water," Mr Smith said.
The pipeline alone is expected to cost at least $750 million, while the broader project was pegged to cost at least $3.4 billion — though this was considered a "significant underestimation" in a more recent report for TRC.
Toowoomba Deputy Mayor Rebecca Vonhoff, who holds the water portfolio, said despite all three regional dams being full, the region's growth, coupled with future climate risks, demanded long-term water planning.
"There's this tendency to sort of sit back, and that is really not the way to go," Ms Vonhoff said.
"We have to be pushing forward right now because this is exactly the time that we can try to make some big picture strategic decisions when we don't have the weight of having to come up with a solution really fast."
Banana Shire Mayor Nev Ferrier, whose region would host the 888-megalitre dam, said he supported it in principle but was sceptical.
"There's no way in the world we'd be against sending water down [to Western Downs] for town usage, but if they want to irrigate, it'd be a lot easier to buy country up here and use water that's already here instead of building hundreds of kilometres of pipeline — that's billions of dollars," Mr Ferrier said.
He said the idea of pumping all that water into pipelines connected to other dams further south would mean his community would "end up with nothing here".
He also questioned whether the dam would be big enough to serve its purpose and raised concerns over environmental hurdles.
"It's never going to be big enough," Mr Ferrier said.
"It'd be nearly impossible to pass all the environmental stumps that they'll put in front of you now."
Mr Ferrier referenced the boggomoss snail, an endangered species native to the area, which has posed a significant obstacle to past versions of the project.
Despite the challenges, TRC formally endorsed the project at a meeting on Tuesday, while ruling out further investigation for a new dam at Emu Creek, north of the city.
Water Minister Ann Leahy said she was aware of the renewed advocacy, saying the state was assessing water infrastructure projects across Queensland, including Nathan Dam.
Ms Leahy would not confirm whether there was any funding for a feasibility study in the state budget next week.
However, she said, "We need to make sure we don't invest in things that don't stack up."
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