THE private sector needs to build and invest in more dams to drought proof Queensland, deliver water security and drive regional economies.
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Speaking at the Rural Press Club in Brisbane on Thursday, Urannah Water Scheme managing director John Cotter said government's needed to ensure that their policy settings supported the private sector to bring projects forward and deliver investor confidence.
"There is over 2000 approvals and three years to bring a project to financial close and that is why so many projects don't progress beyond feasibility phase," Mr Cotter said.
"We know that farmers and Queenslanders have feasibility fatigue and are sick of study after study after study.
"We need to move beyond a constant discussion on where public funding should be spent and ask government to take leadership as an early facilitator to the market and then let each project stack up on it's merits."
Mr Cotter said the $84 million Emu Swamp Dam on the Severn River near Stanthorpe was a great example of achieving a commercial outcome from the market.
That 12,074 megalitre irrigation dam and water-supply scheme will provide water to local farms via a 117km pipe network. It is expected to create 700 jobs.
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"Unfortunately, we know that, dams for dams' sake don't stack up," Mr Cotter said.
"It is only when they are combined with a true vision for broad scale regional economic development that has direct food and energy outcomes, that a project can progress beyond feasibilities."
Mr Cotter said the Urannah Water Scheme was a perfect example of the new world thinking that must be used to ensure water projects get beyond the feasibility stage.
"Our project is a case study of how all the elements, including early funding from the Federal Government, can stimulate the private sector," Mr Cotter said.
"As the only water infrastructure project in North Queensland that has attracted private investment we are confident that the Urannah Water Scheme will deliver water security, cheaper electricity, prime agricultural land, jobs and flow on economic benefits for thousands of Queenslanders in the Mackay, Whitsunday and Isaac Regions in the not too distant future."
Urannah Water Scheme involves the construction of a major, new 1.6 million megalitre dam, which will support a 22,500 hectare (55,600 acre) agricultural precinct as well as mining projects and urban areas. Urannah Dam will host a major, 1000 megawatt hydro-electric power station.
