«WHEN BEING POSITIVE MEANS – SAYING NO»
In light of the region’s worst drought in 100 years and the resulting severe water restrictions,
the Traveston Dam was proposed in 2006 to transfer water to Brisbane, the state capital and
Australia’s fastest growing region. Critics of the proposal suspected political expediency, given
that an election was due in the midst of a major water crisis. However, the problem was not a lack
of dams but a lack of water (the regions five large reservoirs were at worryingly low levels). The
design of the dam, which makes no sense in scientific or economic terms, does not take into account
future climate change that would decrease its capacity even further.
The project would inundate 7,000 hectares of fertile farmland and small towns. It would drown all
trace of pre-European indigenous occupation. There is strong local opposition to the proposal: more
than 20,000 residents have formally protested to halt the dam on a variety of grounds, including the
displacement of local communities and environmental impacts. The dam would destroy the remaining
habitat for the Australian lungfish, Mary River cod and the Mary River turtle, all threatened with
extinction and protected by law.
Text: Peter Meredith
Photography: Aaron Burton
