Boondooma Dam is a dam on the Boyne River on the boundary of Boondooma and Proston in the

South Burnett Region The South Burnett Region is a local government area in the South Burnett district of Queensland, Australia. Origins This Local Government was created in March 2008 as a result of the report of the Local Government Reform Commission released i ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. In 1983, the dam was constructed across the Boyne River below its

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river ( main stem); ...

with the Stuart River, creating Lake Boondooma. It has a capacity of 204 200 ML under the of surface area and has an average depth of . The dam forms a narrow and deep lake, designed to avoid evaporation, with one fork containing much standing timber and another having many submerged rocky outcrops. The dam overflowed for the first time in May 1983. It reached a low of 0% capacity in October 2015, after having reached a maximum of 173.8% (6.17m over the spillway) in January 2013 as a result of heavy rain from ex Tropical Cyclone Oswald.

Water supply

It was built to supply water to the Tarong Power Station and as is the case at so many impoundments, takes its name from the original property in the area. The dam also supplies water to irrigate agricultural properties in the area. Typically, the dam supplies between 50 million and 80 million litres of water per day to Tarong Power Station. The dam was connected to the Western Corridor Recycled Water Project to ensure water levels would not interfere with

power generation Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery ( transmission, distribution, etc.) to end users or its sto ...

in times of

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

SunWater Sunwater, the trading name of Sunwater Limited, is a statutory Queensland Government -owned corporation that supplies bulk water to over customers and water consultancy services to a range of institutional clients in the Wide Bay–Burnett and ...

, the dam's managing authority, is undertaking a dam spillway capacity upgrade program to ensure the highest level of safety for dams under their jurisdiction is maintained. The spillway will be upgraded in the longer term.

Recreation

Since March 2001, camping and recreational facilities at the dam have been managed by the Wondai Shire Council, and since council amalgamations,

South Burnett Regional Council The South Burnett Region is a local government area in the South Burnett district of Queensland, Australia. Origins This Local Government was created in March 2008 as a result of the report of the Local Government Reform Commission released i ...

. Self-contained cabins, caravan sites and camping are all available by the lake. There are also multiple picnic grounds for day-trippers. Angling, swimming, sailing and water skiing are all popular activities at Boondooma Dam.

Fishing

The dam is stocked with

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gu ...

golden perch The golden perch (''Macquaria ambigua'') is a medium-sized, yellow or gold-coloured species of Australian freshwater fish found primarily in the Murray-Darling River system, though a subspecies is found in the Lake Eyre- Cooper Creek system ...

, silver perch and

barramundi The barramundi (''Lates calcarifer'') or Asian sea bass, is a species of catadromous fish in the family Latidae of the order Perciformes. The species is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, spanning the waters of the Middle East, Sou ...

, while

eel-tailed catfish The eel-tailed catfish, ''Tandanus tandanus'', is a species of catfish ( order Siluriformes) of the family Plotosidae. This fish is also known as dewfish, freshwater catfish, jewfish, and tandan. This species is a freshwater fish native to t ...

, and

bony bream Bony bream ''Nematalosa erebi'' are a widespread and common, small to medium-sized Australian freshwater fish often found in large shoals throughout much of northern and central Australia, and the Murray-Darling basin. Description A deep bodied ...

are present naturally. A ''Stocked Impoundment Permit'' is required to fish in the dam.Fishing in Queensland dams? You may need a permit.
In 1993 and 1994, more than 60,000 barramundi were released into the dam, thought the furthest south that the species could survive. Limited numbers have been caught since, but greater success was achieved at locations closer to the coast of similar latitude.

Boating

The dam has two

boat ramp A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving small ...

s and a boating permit is not required. There are no boating restrictions on the dam, however a no fishing/boating zone applies around the dam wall.

References

External links