QUESTIONS over mitigation strategies and allocation amounts are muddying the water of the state government's amended Gulf Water Resource Plan and Gulf Resource Operations Plan.
Amendments to the plan provide for general unallocated water reserves of 239,650 megalitres in the Flinders River catchment and 467,000 megalitres in the Gilbert River catchment.
As well, smaller releases of 8500 ML in the Flinders and 17,000 ML in the Gilbert are available for projects that advance the social and economic aspirations of indigenous people.
Natural Resources and Mines Minister Dr Anthony Lynham described the amendments as a job booster for Gulf communities.
"This delivers on the Palaszczuk government's commitment to promote jobs and boost the economies of local communities in far north Queensland," he said.
"We can now start a competitive tender process to make much-needed water available in Gulf communities to support sustainable farming, rural jobs and local development.
"This will be a tremendous boost for communities like Hughenden, Richmond, Julia Creek, Georgetown and Cloncurry.
"Local businesses will benefit from water releases and the sustainable growth will provide long-term employment."
Brendan McNamara, chairman of the Flinders River Agricultural Precinct, welcomed the announcement of more water but said it remained unchanged from the draft drawn up by the Newman government last December.
"We had a couple of issues with that," he said.
"One is the quantity of water. We had been looking at 560GL but this amount, 266GL is quite a bit reduced. "There's not enough for the demand shown in the Flinders River catchment," he said.
The amount released is half that recommended by the CSIRO in its landmark Flinders and Gilbert Agricultural Resource Assessment report.
The other major concern outlined by FRAP is the mitigation strategy for the Flinders River, in which the Walkers Bend gauging station near Normanton will be used as the guide for when pumping could occur between January and March.
Ninian Stewart-Moore of Hughenden said he had seen big floods in the upper Flinders that had never flowed into the Gulf. "We had a record flood at Hughenden in 2002, a one-in-50-year event, that didn't get to Normanton. Under the pumping triggers in this ROP, we wouldn't have been able to start pumps in those circumstances. I just don't think it will work."
He added that in some years it took until late March or April for water to flow as far west as Walkers Bend, by which time there was no water available in the upper catchment to pump.
The solution given by Mr McNamara was to have another reading station further up the river.
"We mustn't forget, there are many other big river systems flowing into the Gulf - the Flinders and the Gilbert are only two of them," he said, referring to the amount of water available for prawn fishing.
The Gulf water plan area covers about 315,000 square kilometres and is comprised of eight catchments that drain to the Gulf of Carpentaria.
The Flinders is the largest catchment in the plan area, covering about 109,000 sq km.
Dr Lynham said the water plan changes had involved extensive scientific studies and consultation with local industry representatives, Indigenous groups, councils and local natural resource management groups.
"The amendments to the plan are supported by comprehensive science-based studies by Queensland government agencies and the CSIRO," he said.
"They clearly show water can be made available in the Gulf while sustaining the needs of the environment, commercial fishing industries and existing water users.
"For example, any new water entitlement will have conditions that ensure a specific volume of water reaches the end of the river system during the wet season.
"This wet season flow rule will support Gulf of Carpentaria fisheries by ensuring flood flows from January to March each year reach the estuary to support the spawning and growth of prawns and fish.
"It will also support floodplain vegetation, wetlands and the ecosystem functions in the Flinders and Gilbert river catchments," Dr Lynham said.
Tenders will soon be called for the newly-available water in the Flinders River catchment.
Mr McNamara said while it was up to the minister to decide how the water would be priced and who the successful tenderers would be, he hoped some allocations would be made available to smaller operators.
"None of those who got water last time have done anything with it," he said. "Corbett Tritton at Richmond on the other hand has an allocation of 14,500ML and only uses half. He's shown you can do a lot with a little."
In May 2013, the Newman government granted six water licences totalling 94,220ML to largely "big players", including Stanbroke, AACo and Alistair McClymont at Etta Plains.
The competitive tender process at that time received 22 applications for the unallocated water - 18 in the Flinders catchment and four in the Gilbert River catchment.
For more information visit: https://www.dnrm.qld.gov.au/water/catchments-planning/catchments/gulf