The 2024 Organising Committee has put together an exciting day of tours to accompany the program

Cooloolabin Dam

8.45 AM
Located in Queensland, Australia, Cooloolabin Dam provides drinking water to the Sunshine Coast region as part of the SEQ Water Grid. Constructed on Rocky Creek, west of Yandina, the lake has a catchment area of approximately 8.1km2 and holds 8,183ML of water at full supply. Rocky Creek is a tributary of the South Maroochy River, approximately 8 km north-west of Nambour, that drains the northwest corner of the river’s catchment.
Cooloolabin dam is an un-gated dam, meaning that when it reaches 100% capacity, water flows over the spillway and safely out of the dam.
The Dam comprises a concrete gravity dam of 19 m height with overflow section, earth embankment abutment sections and five saddle dams up to 13 m high. The main concrete embankment is 115 m long, with 128 m of earth embankments on the abutments.
In 2017/18 the dam was upgraded to include the following works:
  • Main dam right hand side embankment: Full height dual filter buttress embankment upgrade with rockfill.
  • Main dam left hand side grouted rock wall: Full height dual filter buttress upgrade with rock fill.
  • Saddle Dam A: Partial height dual filter buttress upgrade with rock fill berm for the lower half and earth fill buttress for the upper half.
Seqwater continues to maintain Cooloolabin Dam with regular monitoring and maintenance by the Seqwater Operators and Rangers.
In addition to providing water supply, Cooloolabin Dam provides various recreation facilities to the community including, shoreline fishing, picnic facilities and bushwalking.
More information on Cooloolabin Dam can be found at https://www.seqwater.com.au/dams/cooloolabin
Details about recreation near Cooloolabin Dam can be found at https://www.seqwater.com.au/things-to-do

Poona Dam

10.00 AM
Located in Sunshine Coast, Australia, Poona Dam is a 10 m high homogeneous earth fill dam. It is located on a small unnamed tributary of the South Maroochy River and has a catchment area of 0.73km2. Poona Dam is primarily used as a balancing storage to supply water to the adjacent Image Flat Water Treatment Plant. Water is supplied to Poona Dam from the South Maroochy River either by gravity from the South Maroochy Intake Weir or by pumping from Wappa Dam. The Dam’s catchment area contributes only relatively minor inflows into the Dam.
Poona dam is an un-gated dam, meaning that when it reaches 100% capacity, water flows over the spillway and safely out of the dam.
The Dam was originally designed and constructed by the Maroochy Shire Council. Construction of the Dam commenced in 1959 and was completed in 1960. When originally completed, the full supply capacity of the Dam was 470 ML.
The Full Supply Level was raised by 1.22 m in 1970 to the current Full Supply Level of 152.70 m AHD, and full supply capacity of 655 ML. The raising was achieved by raising the embankment and spillway. The spillway of Poona Dam was further upgraded in 1998 to provide rock mattress and gabion protection downstream of the spillway.
Seqwater continues to maintain Poona Dam with regular monitoring and maintenance by the Seqwater Operators and Rangers.
Poona Dam is not open to the public for recreation.
More information on Poona Dam can be found at https://www.seqwater.com.au/dams/poona

Wappa Dam

Wappa Dam is located on the South Maroochy River, approximately 8 km west of Nambour and approximately 4 km upstream of Yandina, Sunshine Coast. The Dam is one of several water supply dams on the Sunshine Coast and supplies the Image Flat Water Treatment Plant.
Wappa dam is an un-gated dam, meaning that when it reaches 100%, water flows over the spillway and safely out of the dam.
The Dam was originally constructed in 1963, raised in 1970 and 1983, spillway upgraded in 2001 and dam safety upgrade in 2017. Wappa Dam comprises the following elements:
  • A central arch concrete gravity overflow section of which 33 m is a central low flow section with crest at 44.81 m AHD and 105 m medium level section has a crest at 44.95 m AHD.
  • A 7.5 m long auxiliary spillway section on the left side with a crest at 48.3 m AHD and is made up of a concrete capped embankment.
  • A 9 m long earth embankment and concrete retaining wall on the right abutment with a crest level at 50 m AHD.
  • A 112 m long earth embankment on the left abutment with a crest level at 50 m AHD.
Seqwater continues to maintain Wappa Dam with regular monitoring and maintenance by the Seqwater Operators and Rangers.
In addition to providing water supply, Wappa Dam provides various recreation facilities to the community including, picnic facilities and bushwalking.
More information on Wappa Dam can be found at https://www.seqwater.com.au/dams/wappa
Details about recreation near Wappa Dam can be found at https://www.seqwater.com.au/things-to-do

PPE Requirements

The minimum PPE that needs to be worn during the visit to these dams are as follows:
  • wide-brimmed hat
  • long-sleeved shirt with high visibility vest or long-sleeved high-visibility shirt
  • long pants
  • sunglasses
  • closed in shoes