Burdekin River Irrigation Project is the largest irrigation scheme in Queensland, Australia. It is located 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the mouth of the Burdekin River and 100 miles south of Townsville. The project provides more than 810,000 acre-feet (1 billion cubic meters) of water a year to farms growing sugar cane, rice, and other crops. An acre-foot equals the volume of a square container that is 1 foot (0.3 meter) high and has a base of 1 acre (0.4 hectare) in area. The main storage dam is the Burdekin Falls Dam. This concrete dam is 120 feet (37 meters) high and has a capacity of 1.5 million acre-feet (1.86 billion cubic meters). The Gorge Weir, near Dalbeg, was completed in 1953. The Blue Valley Weir was completed in 1963. The Burdekin Falls Dam was completed in 1986.
