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Originally Posted by geckoGT
Yes it was, that is why they open the gates long before 100% capacity (I think about 80%) to keep that reserve to prevent flooding. The problem is we have had pretty constant rain fall for the last few months and Wivenhoe is already at >80% capacity. On top of that there is concern that the wall may not be able to take the load of 100% capacity and wall failure would be catastrophic for the Brisbane area. So now they have the gates open which means that emergency storage capacity to prevent downstream flooding (like the 74 flood) is no longer usable. End result is at the moment it is like Wivenhoe does not exist. If we were looking at the predicted rain fall that we have now and Wivenhoe was only at 50% capacity it would be a different story for Brisbane.
Lets just hope the rain stays the current drizzle and does not achieve the predicted 50-100 mm/day like is predicted.
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This is an interesting read:
http://www.seqwater.com.au/public/ca...s/wivenhoe-dam
Wivenhoe should be fine, there were some concerns over cracks in Somerset given its an older dam.
Don't forget purpose of Wivenhoe was for flood mitigation water was second its pretty much one of Joh's legacies to Brisbane. It can pretty much double its size.
The main danger to Brisbane is the Bremer through Ipswich this is a river which has previously hit 25m high in flood and it undammed.
Worrying times ahead I think but I do have faith in Wivenhoe I just don't trust the Bremer. Best wishes to those in low lying areas hopefully things will work out okay.
I can't understand why they are not sending more water up to Toowoomba they're still only on 43%