About the Gold Coast water plan area

The Water Plan (Gold Coast) 2006 (the water plan) supports water management for several urban centres including the coastal strip of the Gold Coast, northern suburbs of Pimpama and Jacobs Well, and hinterland areas of Springbrook, Natural Bridge, Binna Burra and parts of Tamborine Mountain.

The water plan ensures that future water development is done in an ecologically sustainable way. This protects the important environmental processes, ecological needs (for plants and animals) and heritage values that exist in the water plan area.

Water in the region is used for social, economic or cultural purposes including tourism, healthcare, education, retail, and primary production (marine and freshwater fishing, and agriculture). Expansion of existing industries and new or emerging industries in the region, will have impacts for water needs and use.

The Gold Coast water plan area spans approximately 1,300 km2 and includes the catchments of Pimpama River, Coomera River Nerang River, Tallebudgera Creek, and Currumbin Creek. Water from Hinze Dam and Little Nerang Dam is supplied through the Nerang Water Supply Scheme which is owned and operated by Seqwater.

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Map of the Gold Coast water plan area

Explore the water plan area (e.g. water plan boundaries, major watercourse, scheme trading zones) and its surrounding areas via the Queensland Globe water plan map (use Google Chrome for best results).

The Gold Coast water plan area is bordered by the Logan Basin water plan, the Queensland coastline, and New South Wales.

Growing water needs in the water plan area

In developing the draft water plan, it was important to review how water is shared across all interests, including the environment, and existing and future users.

We needed to balance the growing demand for water, while considering the impacts on existing users and the cultural, ecological and social values of communities in the plan area.

The draft water plan was developed considering technical assessments and stakeholder feedback on the:

  • needs of existing water entitlement holders
  • demand patterns and hydrological characteristics
  • socio-economic conditions
  • cultural significance and values
  • the environment, including groundwater-dependent ecosystems
  • existing and emerging industries.

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