Paradise Dam Case

This case study involves a current application by the Wide Bay Burnett Conservation Council (WBBCC) for a declaration and an injunction to restrain an alleged contravention of an approval under the EPBC Act for the Paradise Dam.

The Paradise Dam (previously called the "Burnett River Dam") is a major dam with a storage capacity of 300,000 megalitres constructed on the lower Burnett River approximately 80 km southwest of Bundaberg in Queensland.

The respondent to the litigation is Burnett Water Pty Ltd, which owns and operates the dam.

The Burnett River contains one of only two known endemic populations of the Australian or Queensland lungfish, a species that is well over 100 million years old, and listed as vulnerable to extinction under the EPBC Act.

The Paradise Dam was approved in 2002 and in 2003 the conditions of the approval were varied to include the following condition:

3. Burnett Water Pty Ltd must install a fish transfer device on the Burnett River Dam suitable for the lungfish. The fishway will commence when the dam becomes operational.

Burnett Water Pty Ltd has installed an unstream fishway and separate downstream fishway on the dam but WBBCC alleges these are not "suitable for lungfish".

The case is expected to be heard in the Federal Court in Brisbane in early 2009.

Key documents in the case are:

• Referral of the Paradise Dam by Burnett Water Pty Ltd.

• Minister's decision that the dam is a controlled action and decision on assessment process under the EPBC Act.

• Paradise Dam Environmental Impact Study (EIS) in 2001.

• Minister's decision to approve the dam in 2002.

• Minister's decision varying the approval in 2003 to include conditions to mitigate impacts on lungfish.

• Application and Statement of Claim in the Federal Court proceedings, filed 7 October 2008.

• Directions orders made by Logan J on 7 November 2008.

• Request for Further & Better Particulars filed by the respondent on 12 November 2008.

• Further & Better Particulars filed by the applicant on 19 November 2008.