Hughenden Irrigation Project Corporation (HIPCo) has requested Grace Detailed-GIS Services (GraceGIS) to conduct “DAM site selection” work for “Flinders River Irrigation Project”.
In stage 1:
Review past findings and reports for possible dam and irrigation area sites in the Shire namely: Betts Gorge Creek at Alstonvale; Flinders River at Mt Beckford; and a new site at Stewart Creek (with Dutton River diversion) and to establish the best site(s) for further study which will be focus on detailed study on actual yields and infrastructure costing.
The objectives of stage 1 work:
- Deriving catchment areas for each site;
- Calculating storage capacities for each site at various Full Supply Levels (FSL);
- Estimate yearly surface runoffs using Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model (G. Arnold et al. 2012); and
- Examine feasibility of diversion of water from Dutton River into Stewart Creek/The Gap and also Porcupine weir site into Alstonvale.
Stage 1 study resulted two possible locations: Alstonvale and The Gap (with and without Dutton River diversion catchment).
In stage 2:
The objectives of stage 2 work:
Part 1:
Study last 100 years of rainfall data to understand their pattern (Monthly mean, max and min, frequency of major events) within 3 catchments (Alstonvale, The Gap and its possible Dutton River diversion)
Model flows using SWAT model, with inputs of SILO (Scientific Information for Land Owners) rainfall data and FGARA (Flinders and Gilbert Agricultural Resource Assessment) soil data to establish monthly inflows for these 3 catchments.
Part 2:
Estimate yearly yield available at each Dam site. This will be a simple estimate based on consumption (provided by Jeff Reid), inflow and estimated evaporation only. This will not be based on a detailed Reservoir simulation model and will not consider irrigation losses, diversion losses, etc.
Based on consumption information produce a graph showing the gap between available monthly water with respect to consumption needs.
Identify gravity-fed irrigation extents for both downstream areas of Alstonvale and The Gap DAM.
Part 3:
Use past reports to approximately estimate the proposed DAM cost in general terms.
Stage 2 study resulted Alstonvale as the feasible one.