About

Purpose

The purpose of the BRC is to implement the agreement made between the governments of Queensland and New South Wales in relation to:

• sharing the waters of the rivers and streams which either form or intersect the boundary between the two states and the associated groundwater resources
• investigating, constructing and operating works to conserve and regulate those waters where considered desirable.

Constitution

The BRC was constituted by an agreement made in 1946 between the New South Wales and Queensland Governments. The agreement was ratified in New South Wales by the New South Wales-Queensland Border Rivers Act 1947 and in Queensland by the New South Wales-Queensland Border Rivers Act 1946.

The agreement, known as the New South Wales-Queensland Border Rivers Agreement, is contained in the schedule to each state’s Border Rivers Act.

Operational area

The BRC’s operational area of responsibility includes:

• Glenlyon Dam on Pike Creek in Queensland
• the border rivers, which include the parts of the Dumaresq, Macintyre and Barwon Rivers that constitute the boundary between New South Wales and Queensland from Mingoola to Mungindi
• the intersecting streams, which include the Moonie, Bokhara, Narran, Culgoa, Ballandool, Warrego and Paroo Rivers and their effluents and tributaries, and any stream or watercourse which forms part of the Darling River drainage system and crosses the New South Wales-Queensland border west of the town of Mungindi.

Duties and functions

The statutory functions and duties of the BRC are, in summary, to:

• determine the anticipated quantity of water available each year from the border rivers and from the dams and weirs controlled by the BRC and notify the states of the portion of that water they may divert and use
• control the construction, operation and maintenance of works taken over or constructed by the BRC under the Agreement, i.e. Glenlyon Dam and Boggabilla Weir as well as other weirs and regulators on the border rivers and intersecting streams
• undertake investigations considered necessary by the BRC to enable it to exercise the powers and discharge the duties conferred upon it by the Agreement
• report and make recommendations from time to time to the governments of New South Wales and Queensland regarding the sharing of the waters of the intersecting streams, the sharing of groundwater and other matters set out in the agreement
• investigate the practicability of constructing, maintaining and operating additional storages
• arrange for the construction, operation and maintenance of gauging stations to record the flow in the Dumaresq River at Mingoola and at such other places as deemed necessary by the Commission
• arrange for the construction, maintenance, operation and control of an effective system of monitoring groundwater.

In addition to its statutory functions the BRC carries on a coordinated program to monitor water quality in the border rivers and the intersecting streams.

• Infrastructure

  Water infrastructure controlled by the Dumaresq Barwon Border Rivers Commission

• Membership

  Members of the Dumaresq Barwon Border Rivers Commission

• Copyright and disclaimer

  Terms and conditions that govern how content published on this Queensland Government website can be re-used.