The Wivenhoe gamble
IPSWICH flood victims fear a repeat of 2011 disaster as Wivenhoe Dam's level reached 100%, while weather experts tip a dry summer ahead.
Ipswich City councillor Paul Tully has called for Water Supply Minister Mark McArdle to drop dam levels to 75% before the wet season sets in.
Mr McArdle has called for calm, with long range forecasters predicting south-east Queensland will be spared from heavy rain.
Mr McArdle and water experts agree that dumping three years worth of drinking water now would be a waste.
"Releasing 25% of Wivenhoe Dam's drinking water supply now would be like dumping 20 years of water supply for Ipswich when the weather bureau was forecasting drought conditions to return," he said.
Cr Tully is concerned the dam level is too high. "That's what happened last time. It was allowed to build up and build up until the weekend before the flood and then we had more rain in Toowoomba and Grantham," he said.
"I think they should realise the wet season is almost upon us, the bureaucrats need to get out to the people and understand the people are living in fear."
An SEQ Water spokesperson said releasing 25% of the dam's capacity would take between seven and 30 days.
International Water Centre instructor Andrew Dragun was critical of the previous government's failure to release water from Wivenhoe Dam earlier.
Prior to the 2011 floods Mr Dragun said the climate indicators suggested early releases from Wivenhoe Dam were necessary.
Those same indicators are absent this time around.
"The level it is at the moment there is no objective reason that we might want to dump a whole lot of water," he said.
Flood victim Brad Zanow, of Zanow's Sand and Gravel in Fernvale, said the Wivenhoe Dam catchment area is soaked, with any further rain to run off directly into the dam.
"It would be foolish not to bring it back to 75%," he said.
"During the storm season it doesn't take much to get four to six inches of rain.
"The government needs to listen to the people. We have been trying to straighten a few problems out and at this point in time they have not prepared themselves for the season coming up."
Storage capacity
Wivenhoe Dam's drinking water compartment holds 1.165 million megalitres.
The flood storage compartment can hold a further 1.45 million megalitres, or more than two times the volume of Sydney Harbour.
Wivenhoe Dam's capacity in July 2010, prior to the floods, was 94%.
