Water storage

Fitzroy River Water sources water supplies from water storages such as dams, reservoirs and a Barrage in the Rockhampton Region.

Mount Morgan No. 7 Dam

The Mount Morgan No. 7 Dam is a mass concrete dam with an earth levee located on the Dee River, immediately downstream of its junction with Limestone Creek.

Main water supply for:                     Mount Morgan Township

Constructed:                                    1990 by the Mount Morgan Gold Mine Company

Storage capacity:                             2,800ML

Fletcher Creek Weir

Fletcher Creek Weir is a 3-row steel sheet piling weir located on Fletcher Creek, just upstream of the junction with the Dee River and 13km directly south of the Mount Morgan Township.

Supplementary water supply for:      Mount Morgan Township

Constructed:                                     1984

Storage capacity:                              340ML (with additional 300ML groundwater)    

Reservoirs

Reservoirs act as storage facilities for the Region’s water supply systems.

As at December 2014, there are 21 reservoirs in the Rockhampton Region including:

Rockhampton        

Number of reservoirs:                      15 for drinking water (including two clear wells at the Glenmore Treatment Plan).

Combined capacity:                         103 million litres

Mount Morgan        

Number of reservoirs:                      2 for drinking water

Combined capacity:                         5 million litres

Gracemere              

Number of reservoirs:                     4 for drinking water

Capacity:                                         7.75 million litres

All drinking water reservoirs are sealed to prevent any external contamination and re-chlorination is performed to ensure that the water quality is maintained.

Fitzroy River Barrage

The Fitzroy River Barrage (Barrage) is the major water storage in the Region. The Barrage is the water source for the town of Rockhampton and surrounding areas of Gracemere, in addition to supplying agriculture water to approximately 292 registered rural users (as at October 2014).

Rockhampton Regional Council is the Resource Operations Licence Holder for the Barrage and is required to operate the storage in accordance with the requirements of the Fitzroy Resource Operations Plan.

Constructed:                        1970

Storage volume:                  74,400 megalitres (approx. 24,600 megalitres is dead storage, or water that is not available for use or diversion)

Supply available:                 The Barrage holds sufficient water to supply Rockhampton for nine months without any run-off in to the river over its vast catchment.

Number of gates:                 18 vertical lift gates

Operation of gates:              Remotely controlled and monitored by a computer system. Automatically operate in response to rises in river height

Fish ladder:                          Operates on southern bank and is estimated 500,000 fish negotiate the ladder each year during full levels of 600mm