LAWYERS representing flooded Queenslanders are gearing up for a potential class action, ordering independent modelling to back the inquiry's suggestion Brisbane's flood peak could have been reduced.
Commissioner Cate Holmes's final report found Wivenhoe Dam's operators breached their manual by failing to understand which of its flood mitigation strategies were being used at different points during the crisis.
But she said, regardless of their mindsets, the engineers released amounts of water consistent with the manual's strategies and it was unclear whether they would have operated the dam any differently had they followed the rulebook.
"There is, it is obvious, plenty of scope for argument about whether adherence to the manual strategies would have made a difference to the way in which the flood engineers actually operated the dam; but the possibility certainly exists that they would have responded more quickly to the developing conditions of January 9 had their mindset been one of applying strategy W3," Justice Holmes wrote, referring to the emergency release strategy that prioritises protecting Brisbane from inundation.
"Ascertaining the practical result of acting more quickly also is subject to the uncertainties inherent in the modelling; but again, the possibility exists of at least some improvement in the flooding outcome for Brisbane and Ipswich."
Rod Hodgson, a partner at Maurice Blackburn, which represents about 1500 flood-affected Queenslanders, said he would commission independent modelling of the flood to demonstrate the likely effect of the engineers' errors.
The modelling would have "greater accuracy and more reliability" than any conducted under the inquiry's terms of reference and any litigation would flow from whatever the science revealed, he said.
"The findings as to the breach of the operations manual . . . together with the suggestions -- loose as they are -- that it made a difference to flood levels downstream of Wivenhoe, support a class action being more likely than not.
"Our view is the report, as a whole, demonstrates that it (the breaches of the manual) must have made a difference."
Slater & Gordon commercial and project litigation general manager James Higgins flagged his firm's potential class action could be "complicated" by the referral of three dam engineers - Robert Ayre, Terrence Malone and John Tibaldi - to the Crime and Misconduct Commission over their allegedly fictitious report of the flood event.
"This referral has the potential to prevent any civil proceedings progressing until the conclusion of a potential criminal trial," Mr Higgins said. "Given the length and complexity of the report, and the substantial work conducted by the commission in preparing it, it is only appropriate to consider the report fully before forming any conclusions about potential legal action."
Mr Hodgson said the CMC referral presented no complications for his firm.
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