CENTRAL Queensland could be transformed into a food bowl - not a dust bowl - if the bold plan for a mega plan on the Fitzroy River gets off the ground.
Initially flagged by Sydney Harbour Bridge engineer Dr John Bradfield in the 1930s, the dam has now being picked up by Rockhampton businessman Dominic Doblo.
"There is enormous potential in this," he said, adding he had received tremendous public support since his announcement a fortnight ago.
The next step is putting a submission together and presenting this to the state government's community cabinet in Rockhampton on September 14.
The proposed dam near the Eden Bann weir - known as The Gap, 50 kilometres north-west of Rockhampton - would hold 10,000 gigalitres of water and cost at least $3 billion to build.
"Unlike other proposed dam sites, this proposal will get us a lot more water through the dry times. If you look at Fairburn Dam at the moment, it's down to 48 per cent and only two years ago it was overflowing," Mr Doblo said.
He said access to this water would create wealth for the region, particularly with the horticulture industry.
"Mangoes are the most consumed fruit in Asia, and Rocky is one of the few areas in the world that produces mangoes at Christmas."
The mango season in Bowen finished in November, early December, so the export potential was enormous, he said.
"The stuff can be picked today, packed tonight and put on a plane tomorrow and be anyway in Asia within 24 to 36 hours. Now you can't get anything to Melbourne in that time."
Mr Doblo, who has an unlikely ally in grazier Sir Graham McCamley, said two other proposed dam sites would be big enough to take the region's agriculture forward.
The proposed Nathan Dam site is 70km downstream from Taroom and 315km upstream from where the Dawson and Fitzroy rivers meet and had unreliable rainfall, he said.
And the Connors Dam site, about 274km upstream of the junction of the Connors/Isaac/Mackenzie River system with the Fitzroy River, was in the wrong location.
The state government shelved it two years ago.
"Sir Graham has been on the river systems for more than 60 years and he has had more than 10,000 plan hours and flown all over the systems."
Mr Doblo said the beauty about the The Gap site was the fact infrastructure was already in place and Rockhampton could easily support the growth in population.
"This is a billion-dollar investment in central Queensland and it will make Rockhampton the agricultural and horticultural capital of Queensland and one of the most liveable cities in Australia.
"The reason for urgency is that if Nathan or Connors goes ahead, this project is gone for two generations and we can't afford for central Queensland economy not to get it."
If the state government does not support the dam, the next step will be the federal government, which has shortlisted 30 sites for potential or expanded dams to boost agricultural production and mining output in northern Australia.
Two are listed for Queensland, although the sites have not been identified.
Federal MP for Flynn Ken O'Dowd has publicly attacked the plan, saying the state would be better served with several smaller dams, rather than a mega dam.
Mr Doblo, however, is not phased.
"All the governments are talking about are food bowls - the only thing we are going to have here is a dust bowl if this doesn't go ahead," Mr Doblo said.
Meanwhile, Sir Graham McCamley is sticking to his guns and is adamant this dam is the right one for the region
Landry urges more investigation
A PROPOSED dam on the Fitzroy River may not be dismissed out of hand with the two dams expected to be included on a list of national dam projects being put to the prime minister as part of the Northern Australia White Paper.
Federal Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry (pictured) is pushing the Fitzroy Agricultural Corridor project near Rockhampton and the Urannah Dam project east of Collinsville in the northern part of Capricornia to be included on that list.
The Fitzroy corridor proposal includes raising Eden Bann Weir and Rookwood Weir near Rockhampton to open up the Fitzroy basin to new agricultural development.
Dominic Doblo's and Sir Graham McCamley's dam proposal lies just 2km from the Eden Bann Weir.
"Dominic's plan is a bold vision and it will need further investigation," Ms Landry said.
"As I have said to him, it needs to be a project of significance to the Queensland government."
Ms Landry said she had been at a meeting in Bowen regarding the Urannah Dam and met with a special interest dam group.
Rockhampton would need to set up a similar group to determine who would need the water, whether it was for crops, trees, cattle or feedlots, she said.
"There is no point building a dam and then not know who will use it."
In the meantime, there is a list of 30 potential dam projects provided to the prime minister and it is not known which dam sites are listed.
Ms Landry said the list was confidential, but she would be surprised if the Fitzroy Corridor and Urannah were not included.
Canavan is intrigued
Senator for Queensland and Rockhampton-based Matt Canavan is intrigued.
But he wants more information.
"It is ambitious and we shouldn't seek to diminish ambitions, but we also need a healthy covering of realism," he said of the proposed dam on the Fitzroy River.
Mr Canavan said the Fitzroy River catchment was the largest river catchment area on the eastern side of the country and there was not enough water storage.
There were many proposals for potential dams, including Dominic Doblo's, and these needed investigating.
"What we need is a proper costed study into water, soil and the costs, like the CSIRO has done in the Gulf," Mr Canavan said.
"We need that here."
Mr Canavan said he hoped the federal government would make a commitment to study the Fitzroy River Corridor - including Mr Doblo's proposal - and it would need to be property investigated.
"If we rush into something, it will be counterproductive."
Sir Graham McCamley has suggested a staged and northerly development of the state, starting from central Queensland, rather than developing from the top down.
Mr Canavan said it was a fair point, and sometimes there was too much focus on developing the frontier.
Greenfields projects were exciting, but sometimes it was more practical to work on brownfield projects and take those forward, he said.