Biggenden, Queensland#Paradise Dam

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The Paradise Lake is a reservoir in the southeast of the Australian state of Queensland. It is located about 30 km northwest of the city of Biggenden in the lower reaches of the Burnett River.

On completed in November 2005 Paradise Dam, a lake with 300 million cubic meters of water content, 29.51 km ² and 38.2 m greatest depth was dammed, which flooded the former gold mining town Paradise. The lake serves as a water reservoir for the nearby towns of Bundaberg and Childers and the surrounding land. The town of Biggenden and its surroundings, however, are not connected to the reservoir.

During the take 4 years, over 400 construction jobs were created and the new dam became one of the biggest tourist attractions in the area. Artifacts and buildings were removed from the ghost town of Paradise, before it was flooded. These exhibits can be admired today in the Biggenden Historical Society.

The Paradise Dam to the government, serve as a model for the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam and hotly debated at the Mary River, about 100 km to the southeast. A report by the World Wildlife Fund from 2005 called the Paradise Lake as one of the six worst planned reservoirs since the World Commission on Dams in 2000.