boopmouse t1_iwkq2dw wrote on November 16, 2022 at 10:30 AM

Reply to comment by LNMagic in Study indicates flood events at dams will significantly increase over next 80 years due to out of date rainfall modelling and climate change. by unswsydney

It's not about leakage, we're having regular floods here all over the East coast of Australia bc of dams overflowing.
The dams we have are in good condition so far, but catchment and holding areas aren't large enough to hold the amount of rainfall we're getting with the increasing intensity of La Niña weather pattern.

willowtr332020 t1_iwlbyg3 wrote on November 16, 2022 at 2:18 PM

Just to clarify, we'd be getting floods with or without dams. Some (not many) of the dams are there to reduce (but not completely stop) flooding affects. Wivenhoe (QLD)is a flood protection dam. Warragamba (NSW) is not, it's a water storage dam (with a side benefit of some flood reduction).

The flooding is just happening because of the wet (LA Nina) period we are having as you've suggested.

We can't insulate ourselves from flooding due to the dangerous rainfall events in the report (like PMP events). In the PMP event you mainly want the dam to safely pass the water and stay structurally sound. Dan failure is worse than any natural flood event.