Wivenhoe and Somerset dams
On 20 January 2011, the then Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy and Minister for Trade, Stephen Robertson, released a redacted version of the Manual of Operational Procedures for Flood Mitigation at Wivenhoe Dam and Somerset Dam (PDF, 1.7M)*.
This manual has since been superseded. The latest version of the manual (PDF)* can be found on the website of Seqwater.
On 7 March 2011, the Department of Environment and Resource Management released Seqwater’s Report on the operation of Somerset and Wivenhoe dams during the January 2011 flood event.
The submission of this report by Seqwater to the department is a requirement of the Manual of Operational Procedures for Flood Mitigation at Wivenhoe and Somerset Dam.
The Seqwater report addresses its compliance with the Manual of Operational Procedures for Flood Mitigation at Wivenhoe Dam and Somerset Dam and the scope for potential changes in dam operational arrangements related to flood mitigation.
The report includes Seqwater’s assessment of the significance of the January 2011 Flood Event, Seqwater’s operational response during the event and Seqwater’s assessment of its compliance with the manual and the effectiveness of monitoring, modelling and communications systems.
The Seqwater report is expected to be considered by the Commision of Inquiry, which is scheduled to provide its Interim Report by 1 August 2011 and which will provide recommendations to be addressed prior to the next wet season.
DERM will consider the recommendations in the Interim Report of the Commission of Inquiry before responding formally to Seqwater’s report and implementing any regulatory changes required prior to the next wet season.
*Due to its size the report has been provided as a full report and broken into a number of parts.
- Full Report - including appendices (PDF, 24M)*
- Report (PDF, 5.2M)*
- Appendix 1 (PDF, 1.1M)*
- Appendix 2 (PDF, 1.6M)*
- Appendix 3 (PDF, 12M)*
- Appendix 4 (PDF, 4.4M)*
* Requires Adobe Reader
Last updated 5 October 2011
