fish that have entered the hopper into the reservoir. The hopper is then returned to the base of the dam and the cycle repeated. A downstream fishway, known as the downstream fishlock, was installed on the dam for a cost of $8 million. It consists of an inlet chamber on the upstream side of the dam wall in the reservoir and a pipe to the downstream side of the dam. When operating, fish are attracted into the inlet chamber by flowing water. The downstream fishway was not operated from the completion of the dam in December 2005 until February 2009 due to water levels in the dam being beneath the entrance of the fishway. Since the dam commenced operation, the upstream and downstream fishways have not operated for approximately 60% of the time due to a combination of low water levels, mechanical failure, and being shut-down. Operation of the fishway has been limited to only those time when there are low and medium flow releases. SunWater, the state entity which manages the dam, released final fishway monitoring reports in 2012 for the upstream fishway and the downstream fishway. 25 species different species have been recorded successfully using the upstream fishway. No lungfish have been recorded using the downstream fishway and very few have been recorded using the upstream fishway. The monitoring indicates that large bodied fish (lungfish, barramundi, mullet, bass) are not using the fishways. A conservation group unsuccessfully challenged the lack of operation of the fishways on the Paradise Dam in court proceedings in 2008–2010. Structural concerns In September 2019, concerns about the structural stability of the dam resulted in the water levels in the dam being lowered to 42% of its maximum capacity. Construction started in May 2020 to lower the dam wall height by , CPB Contractors was selected as the contractor. In 2020 a report found that the roller-compacted concrete was "intrinsically incapable" of achieving the required standard for safety. See also List of dams and reservoirs in Queensland References External links Dams completed in 2005 Wide Bay–Burnett Dams in Queensland 2005 establishments in Australia Gravity dams Dams with fish ladders