Wivenhoe Dam Release

[PinHead]

I still cannot work out why they are having this flood enquiry. Once again..it rained..lots. What happened in Toowoomba and down the Lockyer was a tragedy but there is little that can be done to prevent that ...except putting dams in very stream. Even then they would have to be opened at some stage of major rains. The bremer river is not dammed and flows into the Brisbane..anything that falls below Wivenhow just runs down the river. We live on a meandering river..when it is full of water it cuts the corners across its flood plains..alas we have developed those flood plains. It is impossible to flood proof SE Qld.

[wrip109]

I wonder if it is safe to Kayak in the river with my inflatable while they let water out? I have been pulling in bass way over 50cms. Too big to eat though so they are still in there. Wonder where they will end up now?

BTW Labor left U out of their party name. Who can trust a party that can't spell? Or did they mean to leave you out?

Phil

[aussiebasser]

This above photo was taken at 7.00am on 12/01/11



This photo was taken at 4.00pm on 12/01/11

The 186% level was recorded at 9.00am on 12/01/11

What was the level at 4.00pm? we'll never know. The scarey level was at 2.00am on 13/01/11.

During this time, when the dam rose this much, they were releasing 5% of the dam's capacity every 18 minutes. Now, they are releasing 5% of the dam's capacity over a projected 10 days.

This water release is purely a vote buying expedition. For many people. Paul Tully is on the bandwagon, but he'd show up for the opening of an envelope. Is it prudent to mention that Mr. Tulley's house flooded in 1974 and again in 2011, does he have a vested interest in avoiding future floods?

[rando]

Earlier this week One of the ABC radio presenters had an hydrologist on air from one of the universities.
The inflow into Wivenhoe on the 12th was equivalent to 7 times the flow over Niagra falls .

[rando]

I just went looking for the transcript of that interview.I wanted to confirm the inflow levels.
While 7 times the flow of niagara rings a bell I cant confirm it.
So call any times the flow of niagara falls and it is still an impressive figure.

[TimiBoy]

Will it be wet this Summer? Well, I was convinced from about 18 months ago that we would have at least two wet Summers, because La Nina does that. But I have growing doubts for this year. Why?

While La Nina is here, it is mild, and very, very late. It's difficult to get data going back very far, but my read is that this La Nina is later than usual. I suspect there is something else going on, another cycle impacting, or just simple Climate Variability. The funny bit is that there is no known cycle doing anything at the moment out of the ordinary - that leaves an unknown one, and I'll bet there are plenty of those, as we know diddly squat about our atmosphere, despite the damnable ramblings of the AGW (Anthropogenic Global Warming) fraternity.

So, if La Nina is later and milder than usual, does that validate the Bureau's prediction of up to 75% chance of greater than average rainfall for the mid East Coast of Australia for Dec to Feb? The poor bastards have to predict something, I guess.

My prediction is that someone will be right, and they will proclaim their brilliance. Then the following year they will be wrong, because the atmosphere is a chaotic system, and no one knows shit. But remember, we can now predict Climate 100 years out - the Scientists say so.

Tim

[NAGG]

Was thinking the same thing myself greg.

See we have this massive problem, if it dont rain the dams dry up. If it does rain the dams fill up. Sometimes we get a lot of rain and it floods. If we empty the dams, people whine cause we got no water and have water restrictions. If we leave them full and we get a flood people whine cause they dams were not emptied.

Statisticly it could flood every year, but its very unlikely. In fact, based on current trends it seems that it floods roughly about every 40 years. So why not just leave the water in the dam?

I reckon if you looked at historical data - you would probably find that most of Australias dams (certainly from SE Qld , NSW , Snowy Mtns , Vic , SA & south west WA) would be at drought levels a greater majority of the time - we are a dry country.

What we have now with Wivenhoe is a PR exercise - and its as always (excuse the pun) Damned if you do & Damned if you don't !

As for those who wish to politicise this whole issue - what would CAN DO do ? - Part the waters maybe

Chris

[TimiBoy]

I reckon if you looked at historical data - you would probably find that most of Australias dams (certainly from SE Qld , NSW , Snowy Mtns , Vic , SA & south west WA) would be at drought levels a greater majority of the time - we are a dry country.

What we have now with Wivenhoe is a PR exercise - and its as always (excuse the pun) Damned if you do & Damned if you don't !

As for those who wish to politicise this whole issue - what would CAN DO do ? - Part the waters maybe

Chris

Yep, drought and flooding rains. Always have been, always will be.

Chris you mention Can DO politicising this issue, so just for balance I'll point out that Anna's had a field day doing the same, and I believe Uncle Pete B managed to spend about 1 billion on a closely related Political White Elephant - desal, on the advice of Tim Flummery.

Just for balance, of course.

Cheers,

Tim

[NAGG]

I much prefer balance Tim
........ As for balance - As always government stuff up timing (re desal) both NSW & Qld should have put the infrastructure in place many years ago - but at least it is there now

Chris

[finga]

As always government stuff up timing (re desal) both NSW & Qld should have put the infrastructure in place many years ago - but at least it is there now

Chris

But is it?? Does the bloody desal plant at the Gold Coast work??

PS: Wivenhoe. It was designed to hold 100% continuously. Why empty it if it's not up to the 100%?? If it rains then let it out. If it doesn't rain then keep it. Pretty simple I would have thought.
The engineers were supposed to know their job when they built it weren't they? They calculated the capacities and quoted them. Why question the levels??
I reckon the engineers would have known more about the workings and capabilities of Wivenhoe better then some politician or 100

[TimiBoy]

But is it?? Does the bloody desal plant at the Gold Coast work??

And will it ever actually be needed? Doubtful...

[PinHead]

Scott..Wivenhoe was originally built for flood mitigation only.

Having lived in Brisbane all my life , I reckon i can make forecasts without worrying that spanish named thing.

Most summers are hot to very hot.
Some summers it rains a bit, some it rains a lot and occassionally it bloody buckets down.
Some summers we have severe storms, some we have very severe storms and some there are bugger all storms.

There it is..what happens is anyones guess and it appears that everyone goes into panic mode whenever there is a bit of rain about.

[finga]

Well there ya go. I thought it was always partly water storage and partly mitigation.
Just goes to show you learn something new every day.

"Everyone goes into panic mode when-ever there is a bit of rain about"
They also go into panic mode when there's no rain about.
I think people just panic too much now-a-days. No wonder people go on stress leave.

[TimiBoy]

There it is..what happens is anyones guess and it appears that everyone goes into panic mode whenever there is a bit of rain about.

It's important to me from a Business planning perspective. A bit of risk management, if you like. Very inexact, but worth knowing a bit about. It's made me money on a few judgement calls, too - whether to work on a day or not. But that's a day in advance, not a month or a year....

Cheers,

Tim

[Mike Delisser]

I didn't read much of what the inquiry recommend, but was there anything in it like Wivenhoe be dropped to 75% just before each wet season?