The Loudoun Weir Fishway will be the first fishway in Australia to be completed with financial support from corporate investment. Dalby’s local Civil Construction firm Ostwald Bros have led this challenge assisted by GHD Toowoomba and Arrow Energy to ensure the fishway on Loudoun Weir would become operational in time for the next big rain. 

This unique corporate investment bolsters funds from state and federal government funding bodies including the Murray Darling Basin Commission who have identified the Loudoun Weir as a priority barrier to fish passage in the northern part of the basin. Original attempts to solve this problem were supported by Dalby Town Council in the mid 1990s but were undermined by unexpected problems with design and structural damage resulting from flooding and vandalism.

The current project has taken two years to come to fruition and has been driven by Dalby Regional Council and the regional catchment body for natural resource management, Condamine Alliance. 

Preliminary planning is underway for the Dalby Demonstration Reach which will be designed using the principles of the Native Fish Strategy to develop and showcase healthy river ecosystems in the region. The Dalby Demonstration Reach will be the flagship project for the Condamine River Rescue Program.