River flows within the region reflect rainfall patterns (table
8.1), but are also affected by river regulation. Natural flows
peaks from December to April and are low to negligible from May to
November. At this time many smaller tributaries cease flowing. In
general, flows are dominated by large cyclone or monsoon driven
events. There are pronounced annual fluctuations and variability
from year toyear. High flows may be followed by extended dry
periods. The catchments that drain the wetter coastal ranges i.e.
the Upper Burdekin and the Bowen-Broken contribute more flow
relative to their area than semi arid inland basins such as the
Belyando-Suttor.
On the Burdekin River flows below Lake Dalrymple are regulated
by releases from the Burdekin Falls Dam. The Burdekin Falls Dam
dominates flow regulation with an ability to store 1 860 000 ML of
water which represents about 88% of the total constructed basin
storage capacity (Roth et al. 2002).
Flows on the Bowen-Broken system are regulated by the Eungella
Dam with some inter basin transfers out of the system to service
nearby coal mining areas (NR&M 2000). Other smaller dams,
weirs and river extractions also affect river flows in the region
theseinclude Paluma Dam, two weirs in the Upper Burdekin, the
Collinsville Weir in the Bowen River, six weirs in the
Belyando-Suttor and three weirs in the lower Burdekin and two on
the Haughton (Roth et al. 2002).