Dam release would not have saved Brisbane

Reducing Wivenhoe Dam's water supply by 10 per cent would not have saved Brisbane and Ipswich from devastating flooding, the Queensland government says.

Questions have been raised over whether last month's floods could have been avoided had the operators of Wivenhoe Dam, north of Brisbane, released water earlier.

Natural Resources Minister Stephen Robertson says modelling has been done to show that even if the dam's capacity had been reduced by 10 per cent, flooding would have still occurred.

"Some of the work that's already been done shows that if you reduce Wivenhoe Dam by certain amounts that, modelled against the flooding event that we saw last month, it wouldn't have had a noticeable impact," he told reporters at Airlie Beach on Monday, where the government held its Cabinet meeting.

"... That goes to the issue, which is the size of the event that we were talking about in January.

"There was so much water coming down stream, but also at the same time, it was coming in lower from Wivenhoe through the Lockyer and the Bremer, which the Wivenhoe doesn't control.

"So it was the combination."

However, that modelling was "only a very preliminary assessment", he said.

SEQ Water is investigating whether it should lower the dam's drinking water supply below 100 per cent to give the dam a greater flood mitigation compartment considering the wet summer Queensland is experiencing.

SEQ Water spokesman Mike Foster said last week different models were being considered to see if the dam's flood mitigation function could be improved.

Releasing water was one possible strategy, but he would not detail other possibilities.

Mr Robertson said SEQ Water was still awaiting information to complete its modelling, but hoped it would be finalised by the week's end.

Meanwhile, the investigation into Queensland's devastating summer of flooding will begin on Thursday as the newly-established Commission of Inquiry holds its first hearing.

The commission will probe the operation of Wivenhoe and Somerset dams, among other issues.

ninemsn.com.au 7 Feb 2011

Another lie perpetuated by the authorities and reported by the mass media.

There is NO debate on the topic as there are on certain other 'Entertainment Trash' articles.

Interviews taken by corpau in Brisbane not only from engineers, by residents as well indicated that the opening of the flood gate WOULD have eased the disaster that followed.

Another less publicly known fact is that Wivenhoe has aslo another dam wall in the rear, which could have also been opened.

Under NO circumstances can their be ANY admission of guilt or negligence by the dam operators or authority, as this would open up a law suite in which there was also a loss of life.

Under these circumstances it is the authorities and corporations that silence the masses.

What will be following now is another government sponsored 'flood levy' fraud.