Hopes raised on flow of Urannah funds

JANUARY 27, 2016: I WAS pleased to get confirmation today that an application for funding for a Urannah Dam feasibility study has been submitted to the Federal Government’s National Water Infrastructure Development Fund.The Urannah Dam project has the potential to create thousands of jobs and immediately open up more than 12,000 hectares of agricultural land with the potential for approximately 30,000 hectares in total, but the crucial next step for its consideration was to secure funding for a $5.2 million feasibility study.Expressions of interest for funding had to be lodged by state and territory governments by Thursday last week, and I am happy to confirm that this has taken place.There is $25 million of funding available through the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund, and a minimum of $5 million for Northern Australia and we now have the Urannah Dam feasibility study in the running for that funding.Though I can’t determine the outcome of the application, I know that the Urannah Dam project has huge potential to secure our future, and I hope to see that funding flow.The application has been lodged by the Queensland Government’s Department of Natural Resources and Mines, in partnership with Initiative Capital, the Indigenous owners of Urannah Station and Bowen Collinsville Enterprise.Urannah Dam has repeatedly been identified as a viable option for development and has the potential to meet the future water needs of the northern Bowen Basin coal fields, create a new irrigated agricultural area near Bowen, and provide water for future growth in the Whitsundays, Burdekin and Isaac regions.