Abstract

The current drought (2001 – 2008) throughout Australia has highlighted the vulnerability of South Eastern Queensland’s water resources. The combined capacity of the Wivenhoe, Somerset and North Pine dams as at the beginning of May 2007 had fallen below 19.5% and is expected to fall even further during 2007/8.

To put further strain on water supplies, South Eastern Queensland is also Australia’s fastest growing metropolitan region and is predicted to continue to grow strongly from its 2006 population of 2.7 million to a 2026 population of 4.0 million and 5.1 million in 2051.

The State Government has announced a range of initiatives to secure water supply in South Eastern Queensland in the long-term as it faces the worst drought in more than 100 years, the prospect of continuing irregular rainfall due to natural climate variability and long-term climate change and the rapid population growth.

These initiatives, include the Western Corridor Recycle Water Project, as well the construction of a water grid, including the Southern Regional Water Pipeline, the Northern Inter-connector and the Eastern Inter-connector.

This paper will describe how the project was established as a Project Alliance Agreement with multiple partners who included the client (the Queensland State Government) and how the initial project planning was developed and the use of multiple planning packages to deliver the required quality of project reporting.