Somerset Dam Operational Releases Today

[Gad]

Seqwater advises low flow releases from Somerset Dam into Wivenhoe Dam are planned today and may continue over the next week. These releases are not expected to cause the lake level in Wivenhoe Dam to increase by more than 0.5 metres in the next 24 hour period.

With rainfall of 70 - 120mm for Toowoomba, 120-250mm for Gatton and 100 - 200mm  for Ipswich forecasted for tomorrow , Wivenhoe and Somerset may get decent top ups.

[Gad]

Seqwater now advising flood releases  from Wivenhoe,, Somerset and North Pine are possible in the coming days. The situation will be updated as required

[Binder]

what idiot came up with that idea, North Pine is so low it would take a week of rain in the catchment to even come close to filling up.

[demarc]

I think you can blame the folks currently suing seqwater about the 2011 floods.

[rayke1938]

 

From seq water website.

Expected rainfall and possible recreation area closures

Date:

29/03/2017

Forecast rainfall associated with Ex Tropical Cyclone Debbie is likely to generate sufficient catchment runoff to Seqwater lakes, which may impact water quality. Seqwater is monitoring the situation closely, however, it is possible many primary contact recreation sites may be closed in the next 24 to 72 hours.

Any closures will be made in the interest of public health and safety. Primary contact activities such as swimming and skiing could result in exposure to pathogens, which may cause infections and gastroenteritis-like symptoms.

More information is available of Seqwater’s factsheets and FAQ pages here.

If sites are closed, Seqwater will regularly test water quality throughout any closure period and will re-open each site to water-based activities as soon as test results indicate it is safe to do so.

Check the Seqwater website here for the latest recreation and safety notices before you leave home.

Can do with a lot of water into all the northside dams.  Borumba is the only one to show a small increase  .02%.Be good if they all have a significant inflow without spilling. Not too bad fishwise if they spill now as it is not bass spawning season so losses will be minimal.Only worry will be the lungies in NPD if it spills as PRFMA not allowed to rescue them any more.

Hope our members up north are all ok.

Cheers

Ray

[Gad]

Seqwater Wet Weather Dam Outlook
Posted 29 March 2017

Operational releases from Somerset Dam into Wivenhoe Dam will be made today to balance current stored water supply volumes between the dams.

These releases will not impact flooding downstream of Wivenhoe Dam.

Wivenhoe Dam and North Pine Dam are not currently releasing floodwater.

Seqwater’s Flood Operations Centre has gone on alert today.

The forecasts issued today from the Bureau of Meteorology indicate that South East Queensland may experience significant rainfall from the influence of Tropical Cyclone Debbie from Thursday to Friday.

Floodwater releases from Wivenhoe and North Pine dams are not likely within the next 24 to 36 hours.

The rainfall forecast for the next three days across catchments for Seqwater’s gated dams indicate a potential catchment rainfall of 40mm to 190mm.

The current forecast also suggests there is a small chance catchment average rainfall of up to 400mm may occur.

Seqwater will continue to monitor the situation. If this expectation changes, updates will be provided

South East Queensland’s combined water storage capacity is 71.7%. The weather event may result in increased drinking water supply, particularly on the Sunshine Coast.

Seqwater will issue a water supply system-wide alert on Wednesday 29 March 2017 to prepare the region’s water supply assets for the forecast weather event.

The alert will cover Seqwater and the water service providers of Queensland Urban Utilities, Unitywater and the council-owned water businesses of Redland City Council, Logan City Council and the City of the Gold Coast.

The Somerset Dam operational releases will likely continue overnight and tomorrow.

Hinze Dam, Little Nerang Dam, Wyaralong Dam and Wappa Dam are currently spilling. Dam level information is updated every 2 hours on the Seqwater website: seqwater.com.au/water-supply/dam-levels

Gated dams: Currently Wivenhoe Dam is at 67.9%, Somerset Dam is 74.5% and North Pine Dam is 51.5%. The floodwater storage compartments at Wivenhoe Dam and Somerset Dam are fully available.

Seqwater provides a free Dam Release Notification service which sends notifications by email, text messages to mobile phones or recorded messages to telephone landlines when dam releases are occurring.

To sign up for our free dam release notification service go to

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