Fairbairn Dam is located 25 kilometres southwest of Emerald

Emerald, Queensland

Emerald is a town located in the Central Highlands district of Central Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Emerald had a population of 10,999. The town is the business centre for the Central Highlands Regional Council....

, in Central Queensland

Central Queensland

Central Queensland is an ambiguous geographical division of Queensland that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton and the Capricorn Coast and the area extends west to the Central Highlands at Emerald, north to the Mackay Regional...

, almost on top of the Tropic of Capricorn

Tropic of Capricorn

The Tropic of Capricorn, or Southern tropic, marks the most southerly latitude on the Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. This event occurs at the December solstice, when the southern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun to its maximum extent.Tropic of Capricorn is one of the five...

 line. Fairbairn Dam was constructed in 1972 across the Nogoa River

Nogoa River

The Nogoa River rises on the Carnarvon Range in the Carnarvon National Park in Central Queensland and flows in a north easterly direction. The river ends where it meets the Comet River north of Comet. From this point the river is called the Mackenzie River....

 "Gap" creating Lake Maraboon and is Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

's second largest lake. Maraboon is the Aboriginal for "where the black ducks fly".

The primary purpose of Fairbairn Dam is for irrigation

Irrigation

Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...

. About 300 irrigators are supplied with water for cotton, citrus and other horticulture operations. The dam is relatively shallow with large areas of standing timber. There are no boating restrictions and one concrete boat ramp.

History

On the 1 July 2003, cotton farmers reliant on the dam for irrigation had their water allocation cut by 75%. In November 2006, the dam had reached its lowest level ever—just 14% of total capacity. Over that summer low inflows and high evaporation

Evaporation

Evaporation is a type of vaporization of a liquid that occurs only on the surface of a liquid. The other type of vaporization is boiling, which, instead, occurs on the entire mass of the liquid....

 rates had dropped levels to 12%.

On 18 January 2008 at around 12 noon, the dam overflowed (photo) for the first time in 17 years, due to heavy local rain. On 20 January 2008, around 48 hours later the water level was about 3.5 m over the spillway level (~156% full capacity). The water level peaked at about 4.5 m on 22 January 2008. A week before this rain event, the level saw the lake holding only 29% of full capacity. Downstream 2700 residents had to be evacuated due to flooding.

SunWater

SunWater

SunWater is a company located in Queensland, Australia. The company supplies bulk water to over 6000 customers and water consultancy to a range of clients....

, the managing organisation for the dam, is undertaking a dam spillway

Spillway

A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of flows from a dam or levee into a downstream area, typically being the river that was dammed. In the UK they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways release floods so that the water does not overtop and damage or even destroy...

 capacity upgrade program to ensure the highest level of safety for our dams is maintained. The spillway will be upgraded in the longer term.

Fishing

The dam has been stocked

Fish stocking

Fish stocking is the practice of raising fish in a hatchery and releasing them into a river, lake, or the ocean to supplement existing populations, or to create a population where none exists...

 with barramundi

Barramundi

The Barramundi , also known as Asian Seabass, is a species of catadromous fish in family Latidae of order Perciformes. The native species is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific region from the Persian Gulf, through Southeast Asia to Papua New Guinea and Northern Australia. Known in Thai...

, Mary River cod

Mary River cod

Mary River cod are a Maccullochella cod found in the coastal Mary River system of southern Queensland, Australia...

, southern saratoga

Southern saratoga

The southern saratoga is a species of fish in the Osteoglossidae family. It is endemic to Australia.-Description:...

, bass

Bass (fish)

Bass is a name shared by many different species of popular gamefish. The term encompasses both freshwater and marine species. All belong to the large order Perciformes, or perch-like fishes, and in fact the word bass comes from Middle English bars, meaning "perch."-Types of basses:*The temperate...

 and silver perch

Silver Perch

Silver perch is a medium sized freshwater fish endemic to the Murray-Darling river system in south-eastern Australia. The scientific name comes from an aboriginal name for the species recorded by Major Mitchell on his 1832 expedition. It is not a perch, being a grunter in the family Terapontidae...

. Eel-tailed catfish

Eel-tailed Catfish

The eel-tailed catfish, Tandanus tandanus, is a species of catfish of the family Plotosidae. This fish is also known as dewfish, freshwater catfish, jewfish, and tandan.-Distribution:...

, spangled perch, red claw crayfish

Australian red claw crayfish

Cherax quadricarinatus is an Australian freshwater crayfish.-Distribution and ecology:C...

, sooty grunter

Sooty grunter

Named after Tom Eyears sooty grunter is also known as a "sooty", "bream", "grunter", and "blackbream". They can weigh up to . Sooty grunters prefer rivers with clear flowing water and a sandy or rocky substrate, but have a wide range of environmental tolerance.Sooty grunters live in Queensland...

 and golden perch

Golden perch

The golden perch, Macquaria ambigua, is an Australian native freshwater fish, primarily of the Murray-Darling river system. It is not a true perch of the genus Perca....

georgia fish are additionally present. On the lake fishing is banned within 200 m of the dam wall, while below the ban extends for 400 m.