Department ofLocal Government, Water and Volunteers

Proposal to change water planning in Central Queensland

We think there is a better way to manage water in Central Queensland (CQ).

Right now, we have separate water plans for the Fitzroy Basin, Boyne River Basin, and Calliope River Basin areas that will expire in the next few years and need be replaced. The coastal basins of Styx, Shoalwater and Waterpark do not fall under any water plans currently (water in these areas is managed under the Water Act 2000 and the Water Regulation 2016 e.g. Farnborough underground water area).

These water systems are connected either naturally or through infrastructure, and we think it would work better if we managed them under one water plan. We are considering this change as we review the three water plans that need to be replaced.

A CQ water plan would join the current water plan areas in the region into a single plan while also bringing the three adjacent coastal areas into Queensland’s water planning framework.

To give enough time for this work, the Minister for Water has extended the expiry of the existing water plans:

They will now expire in June 2028. View our impact analysis statement for this extension.

Public consultation

The first round of public consultation closed on 4 November 2024.

We asked people to read about how water is managed now, along with these main topics we are considering as we review these arrangements:

Timeline

The process to review and replace water plans takes several years to complete.

We are in step two of the review process where we are:

  • reading your submissions
  • meeting with peak bodies, First Nations groups, other community groups, businesses and other interested people
  • meeting with the CQ water planning working group
  • asking our scientific partners for their guidance
  • meeting with other major project teams, including the Central Queensland Regional Water Assessment stakeholder advisory group
  • evaluating all the things we’ve heard
  • deciding if we progress with the proposal based on the overall opinion of the feedback. If not, we will use your feedback to review and replace the existing Fitzroy Basin, Calliope River Basin, and Boyne River Basin water plans before they expire.
A graphic showing the timeline for this review from step one in 2024 to step five in 2027. We are currently up to step two where we’re reviewing feedback and using technical assessments to develop the draft new water plan.

Future steps

Step three – we will release of the draft new water plan/s for a second round of public consultation. This will be in 2025.

Step four – in 2026 we will review the submissions for the draft water plan/s and feedback to finalise the work. This step is completed when the new plan/s is/are passed by Parliament and become/s law. We call this an “enacted plan”.

Step five – our new enacted water plan or replacement water plans will be released in 2027.

Learn more about the five steps of the process.

More information

Last updated: 15 Aug 2025