DAM VIABLE VISION
THE Hells Gates Dam project should not be considered as an alternative to the Haughton Pipeline project for Townsville and any start on its construction was at least 10 years away, according to a new Federal Government- funded report.
The final report from the SMEC- led feasibility study, seen by the Townsville Bulletin, found the $ 5.35 billion irrigated agricultural and power project on the upper Burdekin River was viable but identified a number of steps needed to be taken to “de- risk” any potential investment.
The $ 2.2 million study, found, if constructed, Hells Gates would be expected to deliver horticultural and broadacre cropping that would contribute about $ 797 million to the gross regional product.
Depending on cropping scenarios the benefit- cost ratio of the project would be between a 1.4 and 0.68 return on the dollar.
The report found the commencement of construction on the dam may not occur for the “best part of a decade” due to the investigative works needed to determine its viability.
The project could potentially create an estimated 12,000 jobs during construction and 5000 direct and indirect jobs once completed.
The report said Hells Gates could not be considered a “competing potable water source” to Stage 1 and 2 of the Haughton Pipeline project.
“Any potential town water supply from Hells Gates Dam to Townsville is likely to be in the extreme long term,” the report said.
SMEC recommended the next step for the project would be a detailed business case, which would include a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement ( EIS) to assess the challenges and barriers associated with developing the dam. The report also noted the recommended assessments and further work proposed focused on detailed engineering and environmental assessments that wouldn’t necess- arily mitigate all major risks.
“The main risks to the project … include issues such as costs of water likely to restrict the viable cropping opportunities, the absence of water allo- cation or allowance under the water plan and the capacity of markets to absorb significant horticultural production,” the report said.
The report also did not con- sider revenue or cost elements of a large- scale pumped hydro project.
“Future investigations need to technically de- risk this element of the project and firm up the economic effect,” it said.
A number of steps including releasing the water allocations for development and irrigation of parcels of land in the Burdekin Zone, supporting trial cropping runs, and financial support for the development through federal and state grants would help “de- risk” Hells Gates.
The report found staging the project would also be important.
“There is a strong case to argue that for any large scale multi- crop irrigated agricultural project to be successful in the way that the Murray- Darling is successful, it will be developed over a long rather than a shorter time period,” the report said.