• Change text size
• Skip to content

Australian Natural Resources Atlas

Natural Resource Topics

• About us
• Contact us

Search:

Water resources - Overview - Queensland

Specify a region: -- select region -- Archer River Baffle Creek Barron River Black River Border Rivers Boyne River Brisbane River Bulloo River Burdekin River Burnett River Burrum River Calliope River Coleman River Condamine-Culgoa Rivers Coopers Creek Curtis Island Daintree River Diamantina River Don River Ducie River Embley River Endeavour River Fitzroy River (Qld) Flinders River Fraser Island Georgina River Gilbert River Haughton River Hay River Herbert River Hinchinbrook Island Holroyd River Jacky Jacky Creek Jardine River Jeannie River Johnstone River Kolan River Lake Frome Leichhardt River Lockhart River Logan-Albert River Maroochy River Mary River (Qld) Mitchell River (Qld) Moonie River Morning Inlet Mornington Island Mossman River Mulgrave-Russell River Murray River (Qld) Nicholson River Noosa River Normanby River Norman River O'Connell River Olive / Pascoe Rivers Paroo River Pine River Pioneer River Plane Creek Proserpine River Ross River Settlement Creek Shoalwater Creek South Coast Staaten River Stewart River Stradbroke Island Styx River Torres Strait Islands Tully River Warrego River Water Park Creek Watson River Wenlock River Whitsunday Island Arunta Clarence-Morton Coen Georgina Great Artesian Laura Mcarthur Mt Isa-Cloncurry New England Tasman Albert River Balonne / Condamine Barker / Barambah Barratta Belyando / Suttor Bokhara River - Distributary Area (Qld) Bowen / Broken Boyne Brisbane River Bulloo River (Qld) Bundaberg Irrigation Area Burdekin River Burrum River Callide Cooper Creek (Qld) Dawson River Diamantina River (Qld) Elliott Fitzroy River (Qld) Georgina River (Qld) Gregory Haughton River Hay River (Qld) Horne Island Isis Lake Frome (Qld) Lockyer River Logan River Macintyre / Dumaresq Rivers Macintyre Brook Maranoa Moonie River (Qld) Mulgrave River Nicholson River (Qld) Nogoa / Mackenzie Paroo River (Qld) Russell River Settlement Creek (Qld) St George Three Moon Creek Thursday Island Upper Burnett River Upper Condamine River Wallum / Nebine / Mungallala (Qld) Warrego River (Qld)

Basin & Surface Water Management Area: Maroochy River

Introduction

The Maroochy SWMA has a catchment area of 1540 sq km and is located on the Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane. The Maroochy River originates in the Blackall Range. It flows through Eumundi in lightly vegetated but grassy country to Maroochydoore on the Sunshine Coast. The catchment has an annual average rainfall ranging from 1600 to 1800 mm. Urban water users include the townships of Buderim, Maroochydore, and Caloundra. Tourism is a major industry in this SWMA.

Vital Statistics:

Area:	1,538 Km2
Total storage volume:	27,997
Total surface water use:	32,986 ML/yr
Development category:	LOW DEVELOPMENT
Mean annual run-off:	674,000 ML/yr

A four-class classification system was developed to provide a simple method to communicate the status of the use and allocation of Australia's water resources in relation to sustainable water management.

It is important to recognise that adequately quantifying a sustainable flow regime or sustainable yield and consequent operating rules is a complex matter. State, Territory and scientific agencies continue to develop and apply methods and measures for determining sustainable flow regimes and sustainable yields.

This categorisation provides a general guide only. Please refer to the State and Territory Overview and Technical reports for detail on the analysis methods used.

	Category	Development status
1	<30%	Low development
2	30 - 70%	Moderate development
3	70 - 100%	Highly developed
4	100%	Overdeveloped

* Water use as a percentage of sustainable flow regime (surface water) and sustainable yield (groundwater)

PLEASE NOTE:

Sustainable Yield:

No sustainable yield studies are available for this SWMA. A Water Management Plan is currently being developed for this SWMA.

PLEASE NOTE:

Categorisation:

No sustainable yield studies are available for this SWMA.

This SWMA has a low level of development. Water is imported from SMWA 138 to supply domestic and industrial water for the Sunshine Coast. A Water Management Plan is currently being developed for this SWMA.

How saline are the surface water resources in the Maroochy River surface water management area?

No data were available about the salinity of surface water resources in the Basin / SWMA for the Australian Water Resources Assessment 2000.

Major water storages

Table: Major water storage areas:

Storage name:	Capacity (ML)
Wappa Dam	4,614
Ewan Maddock Dam	9,100
Cooloolabin Dam	13,600
Poona Dam	683
Total	27,997

Further Information

• View the Queensland Water Resources Assessment 2000 Report
• View the Queensland Water Resources Assessment 2000 Technical Report
• Link to data available for download on the:
• Surface Water Management Areas
• Data from the 1985 Review of Australia's Water Resources and Water Use
• Link to the Map Maker to make a map using this information.
• For more information about water and other natural resource issues link to www.nrm.qld.gov.au