Berrys Weir, Bremer River, Yamanto

Official Place Naming
On 7th October 2003, Ipswich City Council applied to have two geographical features located off Berry Street, Yamanto, namely the existing lagoon and weir officially named. The Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM) advised the following.

Berrys Lagoon: Further investigations into the geographical feature, Berrys Lagoon revealed a map 20 Chain 2508 (dated approximately 1940’s) that indicates the subject lagoon named as Berrys Lagoon.  In accordance to the Place Names 1958, geographical features recognised on existing maps and lithographs prior to 1958, are recorded in the Place Names Database without performing a formal advertisement process. In lieu of this research, Place Names in CHQ registered the name Berrys Lagoon in the Place Names Database and it was recognised as an official geographical feature.

 
Berrys Weir: Departmental records revealed that Berrys Weir is situated on the Bremer River adjacent to Berrys Lagoon and was built post 1964 by The Southern Electric Authority of Queensland for the Berrys Lagoon Water Supply Pumping Station. This Pumping Station supplied water to the Swanbank Power Station. Under the provisions of s.4 (2) (d) Place Names Act 1994, a dam wall or similar structure is not recognised as a geographical feature or place. However, Berrys Weir was recorded as an unapproved name in the Place Names Database similar to other weirs throughout the State. Berrys Weir was entered as an unapproved name in the Place Names Database.

History
Berrys Weir was constructed in the 1960s (post 1964) by the Southern Electric Authority of Queensland to supply water to the Swanbank Power Station. Engineering drawings for the Berry’s Lagoon Pump Station and Diversion Weir are dated 14 December 1964, and pipeline route drawings between Berry’s Lagoon and Swanbank Power Station are dated 11 October 1966. This strongly suggests that construction occurred during this period.

Construction of Berrys Weir partial width rock ramp fishway on the Bremer River in Ipswich was completed in October 2016. The fishway was constructed on a large 2.4 m high barrier (Berrys Weir), making this the longest rock ramp fishway in Australia.

Berrys Weir on the Bremer River was constructed in the 1960’s to impound water for power generation, forming a major barrier to fish migration (Figure 2). The weir was constructed in the lower reaches of the Bremer River, impacting crucial life-cycle dependant migrations between downstream estuarine environments and upstream freshwater habitats. The barrier impacted many native species including a number of economically important fish species, such as Australian bass, sea mullet, and long-finned eels. The Bremer River is also home to the endangered Mary River Cod, which have been re-introduced as part of conservation efforts to save their population. Barriers to fish passage are widely known to adversely impact on fish populations, so the re-opening of over 41 kilometres of riverine habitat along the Bremer River is a big step in the right direction for the recovery of this endangered species.

Source: Catchment Solutions webpage

An Ipswich First article on 19 September 2018, reported that:

A fish not seen in the Bremer River for 14 years is back in record numbers following construction of Queensland’s longest fish ladder.

The 90m-long fish ladder at Berry’s Weir at Yamanto in the river’s lower reaches was completed in late 2016 with monitoring undertaken since to assess its impact.

The weir is at the bottom of the fresh water/tidal section just before the river becomes a tidal estuary.

The results have been remarkable, with one monitoring session earlier this year including the catch and release of more than 1,000 juvenile Freshwater mullet, at a rate of 266 per day.

Fisheries biologist Matt Moore of Catchment Solutions, which built the fish ladder, said the results told a compelling story.

“Fourteen years of fish surveys in the Bremer Catchment have not detected Freshwater mullet, so to catch more than 1,000 in a week is an incredible result,” Mr. Moore said.