Lakeland is a step closer to realising longterm water security with the Queensland Government making the first milestone payment towards the Lakeland Irrigation Area Business Case. 

In June, the Government paid the $10 million for the detailed business case for a new dam on the Palmer River. The river flows west to the Mitchell catchment and into the Gulf of Carpentaria. 

Milestone 1 will see the creation of instrumental project management and stakeholder engagement plans. 

Professional Engineering and Development consultants, SMEC, has been appointed the principal project manager. 

The detailed business case is due to be completed in September 2022. The regionally significant project will open up 10,000 hectares of agricultural land and support 1000 jobs during construction and 1200 full-time positions upon completion.