Condamine and Balonne water plan area
This information will help you understand how water is managed and how you can access water in the water plan area.
Map of the water plan area
Check whether your property is covered by the plan on the Queensland Globe water plan map (use Google Chrome for best results) or download the Condamine and Balonne water plan area map (PDF, 430KB).
What's happening?
- 30 March 2025: Due date for new meter installations and validations for all remaining water entitlements to take surface water and groundwater, Condamine and Balonne Tributaries Water Management Area: Zone CBT-01, 02, 03, Northern Weir River & Weir River, Water licences to take groundwater from the Balonne River Alluvium or the Maranoa River Alluvium in the St George Alluvium (Condamine and Balonne (deep), Condamine and Balonne (shallow).
- 30 September 2024: Due date for new meter installations and validations for all remaining Upper Condamine Alluvium (Tributaries) Underground Water Unit, All remining Upper Condamine Basalts Underground Water Unit, Condamine and Balonne Tributaries WMA: Zone CBT-04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09.
- 31 March 2024: Due date for new meter installations and validations for the Nobby Basalts and Cunningham Alluvium Water Underground Water Sub-Areas.
- 30 November 2023: Due date for meter revalidations for the following Water Management Areas: Central Condamine Alluvium (Upper Condamine), Condamine and Balonne, Upper Condamine, Oakey Creek Alluvium and Dalrymple Creek Alluvium.
- August 2023: The moratorium notice for works to take contaminated agricultural runoff has been withdrawn—read the withdrawal notice (PDF, 130KB). New works to capture contaminated agricultural runoff in the Queensland Murray-Darling Basin will be required to operate under store and release arrangements.
- 19 January 2023: The Water Use Report: Condamine and Balonne 2021–22 has been published as part of our commitment to increased transparency around water data.
- 12 December 2022: The Condamine and Balonne long-term watering plan has been published which identifies priority environmental assets, functions, objectives and targets.
- 20 July 2021: The Lower Balonne water management area March to April 2021 flow event report (PDF, 1.4MB) has been published in accordance with the provisions of the water management protocol.
- September 2019: The Condamine and Balonne water resource plan has been accredited by the Australian Government.
- 10 June 2019: The water entitlement notice (PDF, 2MB) to convert, grant or amend water entitlements has been published. All affected licence holders will be notified.
Water management
Summary
| Type of water | Management |
|---|---|
| Surface water | Check the water plan information below for rules and requirements |
| Overland flow | Check the water plan information below for rules and requirements |
| Underground water | Check the Great Artesian Basin and Other Regional Aquifers water plan for underground water and spring water in the Great Artesian Basin and other important regional aquifers. Check the Condamine and Balonne water plan (below) for all other underground water |
Water plan information
- Water Plan (Condamine and Balonne) 2019
- Water management protocol (PDF, 7.1MB)
- View flow event reports for the Lower Balonne water management area
- Access historical documents and reports and previous water plans
- Access property maps for water allocations managed under the plan
- Access the Minister's performance reports for the plan
Water supply scheme operators and manuals
The following schemes operate in the water plan area. Check the operations manuals for day-to-day operational, water sharing and seasonal water assignment rules. The licences contain information about the roles and responsibilities of the licence holder.
| Name | Operator | Licence | Manual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chinchilla Weir Water Supply Scheme | Sunwater | Resource operations licence (PDF, 95KB) | Operations manual (PDF, 460KB) |
| Maranoa Water Supply Scheme | Sunwater | Resource operations licence (PDF, 194KB) | Operations manual (PDF, 507KB) |
| St George Water Supply Scheme | Sunwater | Resource operations licence (PDF, 134KB) | Operations manual (PDF, 1.6MB) |
| St George Channel Scheme | Mallawa Irrigation Ltd | Distribution operations licence (PDF, 265KB) | Operations manual (PDF, 317KB) |
| Upper Condamine Water Supply Scheme | Sunwater | Resource operations licence (PDF, 164KB) | Operations manual (PDF, 560KB) |
Water sharing rules
Check the:
- operations manual in the above section for water sharing rules for supplemented water for the relevant water supply scheme
- Water management protocol (PDF, 6.1MB) for water sharing rules for unsupplemented water and underground water.
Accessing water
Follow the links below for more information on how to access water in the water plan area.
| Announced entitlements and limits | The water you can take through your water entitlement may be limited. Check announced entitlements and limits for unsupplemented water or contact the water supply scheme operator for supplemented water |
|---|---|
| Unallocated water releases | No current releases |
| Relocatable water licences | Available in the Central Condamine Alluvium sub-area. Read about the relocatable water licence market |
| Water allocation trading | Check the Water management protocol (PDF, 6.1MB) for dealing rules for water supply schemes, unsupplemented water and underground water For additional information on trading in the following water supply schemes see:
|
| Seasonal water assignment |
|
Contact us
Contact the Toowoomba business centre for more information on water management and how you can access water in the Condamine and Balonne water plan area.
Also consider...
- Find out more about Indigenous water reserves.
- Get streamflow and groundwater data from the Queensland Government Water monitoring information portal.
- Access maps and water data using Queensland Globe or the water entitlement viewer.
- Find out about river improvement trusts and their work.
- View price information for permanent water allocation trades and relocatable water licences.
- Read about water planning and learn where to find information in the new water planning documents.
- Read the Water planning science plan 2020–2030 to find out how we use science to develop water plans and improve water planning.
- Find out more about water management in the Queensland Murray-Darling Basin.
- Last reviewed: 6 Jul 2022
- Last updated: 11 Sep 2023