QLD:Wivenhoe Dam manual a mess: commissioner

AAP General News (Australia)
04-15-2011
QLD:Wivenhoe Dam manual a mess: commissioner

BRISBANE, April 15 AAP - The head of the inquiry into Queensland's floods has described
a crucial part of the operations manual for Brisbane's Wivenhoe Dam as a "mess".

The Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry on Friday heard from a third engineer,
Terry Malone, who directed releases from the dam in January's floods.

Engineers have told the inquiry how they used models that didn't factor in forecast
rain when moving to operating phase W4, which allowed them to make large releases from
the dam in order to save it from collapse, even if that meant flooding properties.

More than 14,000 Brisbane homes were flooded on January 13.

On Friday, Mr Malone was questioned over the manual, and how engineers took into account
models with and without forecast rain, as well as the height of the Wivenhoe Dam lake,
when making their decisions.

Commissioner Justice Catherine Holmes said that part of the manual was a mess.

"This really is a bit of a mess, isn't it?" she said.

Mr Malone replied: "It's a very difficult concept, yeah."

Justice Holmes disagreed.

"It's not the concept, there are three different ways in which it's expressed in the
manual," she said.

The inquiry in Brisbane continues.

AAP gd/crh/apm

KEYWORD: FLOODS INQUIRY UPDATE

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