criticised because of the high capital and ongoing running costs which would make the project uneconomical. Elevation measurements were taken with a barometer, leading to inaccuracies in land heights and mistakes in the proposal. In most cases no flow record of the rivers were available to Bradfield. He used an empirical formula which assumed 33% of the water flow would be lost to evaporation and seepage. The estimated water available for the scheme was . The extreme evaporation rate in the interior is another negative determinant. No clear evidence has been provided that the amount of water supplied will exceed the evaporation rate. The reduction in river discharge to the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon may diminish coastal fisheries by reducing the supply of terrestrial organic matter to the coastal and estuarine environment. In 1947, W.H.R. Nimmo conducted a critical review of the scheme. He proved that Bradfield's estimates of the amount of water available from the easterly flowing rivers were about two and half times greater than it actually was. The error was attributed to the methodology used to calculate flow estimates which was based on German rivers where the average temperature was much less than in northern Australia. Support The Bradfield Scheme has not received broad political support from any of the major Australian parties in recent times, but it has been pushed by individual politicians such as Bob Katter, who advocated the plan whilst he was a member of the Nationals for the state seat of Flinders during the 1980s, and continues to support it as an independent, representing the federal seat of Kennedy. In February 2007, the then Queensland Premier Peter Beattie urged the Federal Government to look at a modern version, saying it is better to find more water than to cut back on current supplies. However, Beattie preferred desalination. In May 2019 former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce and Pauline Hanson's One Nation party also support the scheme. In November 2019 the Liberal National Party of Queensland, through the opposition leader Deb Frecklington, provided support of the project as a long term investment. See also Goldfields Water Supply Scheme Irrigation in Australia Ord River Irrigation Scheme Great Man-Made River Snowy Mountains Scheme References Engineering projects Proposed interbasin transfer Geography of Queensland Water management in Queensland Water supply and sanitation in Australia North Queensland Far North Queensland Central West Queensland