Cressbrook Dam: Toowoomba council reveals why project is stalling as monthly cost to ratepayers revealed

About $1m of ratepayer money is being spent every month on the behemoth Cressbrook Dam safety project, with the council revealing “complications” are partly behind new delays.

The stalling Cressbrook Dam safety project is costing Toowoomba ratepayers roughly $1m a month to keep running, as the council revealed the team had encountered “complications”.

Just $43m of the $266m slated for the spillway upgrade has been spent so far, despite the project having an original completion date by the end of the year.

Documents presented at the council’s ordinary meeting last week show the upgrade to the dam’s spillway, being undertaken by contractors Seymour Whyte and SMEC alongside the TRC, is still in the design phase and currently less than 17 per cent complete.

A key monthly document, called the “project dashboard”, has barely changed over the past quarter.

While some of the delays have been due to the dam being at full capacity thanks to ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, which has been deemed a safety risk, it can be revealed the project team now has to make changes to the design of the new spillway due to recent discoveries.

Toowoomba Regional Council mayor Geoff McDonald and deputy mayor Rebecca Vonhoff. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Deputy mayor and spokeswoman for strategic water planning Rebecca Vonhoff said the challenges related to some of the original materials used in the dam.

“We’ve informed the dam safety regulator that geotechnical investigations have been made more complex by the discovery of the materials used in the dam’s original construction and the challenges in determining their suitability for reuse in the safety improvement project,” she said.

“This has caused changes to the design, as has applying updated modelling following extreme weather events — ex-TC Alfred changed things once again.”

It comes after sources told The Chronicle the team at Seymour Whyte and SMEC was actually in stand-down mode while the project remained in limbo, at a cost of a $1m a month to ratepayers.

This prompted questions from certain community members as to whether the council’s decision to sign the tender with both contractors in December 2023 was too early.

Dr Vonhoff denied any members of the project team had been stood down, but confirmed the overall monthly cost.

Aerial photograph of Lake Cressbrook. Photo Kevin Farmer / The Chronicle Helicopter services courtesy of Heliwest Group

“Seymour Whyte have temporarily reallocated some staff to other projects to make sure all costs associated with the (upgrade) are spent on works related to the progression of the project,” she said.

“We have made it very clear to our partners that safety absolutely must not be compromised but that we want this project to move forward with their focus and their energy.

“The continued cost of designing the project is around $1m a month, sometimes less, sometimes more, this is incorporated in the project budget.”

Dr Vonhoff said Queensland’s dam safety regulator told the council there would be no action taken “as long as we continue to demonstrate progress towards a solution that meets the regulation”.

She also evoked the Paradise Dam debacle to reassure ratepayers the council was committed to delivering the upgrade as soon as possible.

“Paradise Dam looms large in our minds — if we’re doing this upgrade, we need to do it once and do it right,” Dr Vonhoff said.

“We’ve been working with state government agencies … to obtain approvals necessary for construction.

“There’s also been repair works on downstream creek crossings caused during ex TC Alfred.

“We are gradually releasing water from Cressbrook Dam to reach the 70 per cent needed to safely start specific phases of construction — the dam only stopped spilling on Friday June 6 after the most recent rainfall.”

The council has allocated $96m towards the project in its latest budget, which also features a 9.5 per cent general rate rise. The TRC is on track for a $13m deficit if it can’t find about $14.75m in savings during this financial year.

Originally published as Cressbrook Dam: Toowoomba council reveals why project is stalling as monthly cost to ratepayers revealed