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Southeast Queensland dam management is still a mystery after the $15m flood inquiry. |
QUEENSLANDERS are still no closer to learning whether the southeast's dams were managed properly during the 2011 flood after the $15 million flood inquiry's final firework turned out to be a damp squib.
The Crime and Misconduct Commission yesterday said a flaw in the dams' operations manual in use at the time could easily have explained apparent inconsistencies in flood engineers' evidence to the floods inquiry.
The CMC said it would be "oppressive" to mount a prosecution of three engineers whom the commission referred to it in March after allegations in the inquiry's final report that they concocted their official accounts of the event.
CMC chairman Ross Martin, SC, told The Courier-Mail the crime-fighting body had not been asked to look at the "critical issue" of the engineers making huge releases on January 11, "which was the event that triggered the actual flooding".
"The flood inquiry had its own terms of reference and it was the flood inquiry's task to pursue that and I make no criticism of that," Mr Martin said.
"We were given a much more narrow and specific focus and we've done our job."
Mr Martin said the CMC had pointed out the problem to Seqwater, who said the flaw over the definition of the "W2" strategy had been fixed.
"The revision 9 of the Wivenhoe Manual was reviewed ahead of the 2011-12 wet season and has improvements in terms of clarity and explanation of the different strategies (ie. W1, W2, W3 and W4) and the transition and decision making process between them," a spokesman said.
Seqwater said it remained "acutely aware of the impact of the floods and the devastation caused which is ongoing for so many in our community" but it was "important not to lose sight of the magnitude and rarity of the January event".
The Courier-Mail first revealed problems with the manual of operations for Somerset and Wivenhoe dams in May 2011.
The newspaper reported dam expert Max Winders in January as saying the manual was still flawed despite revisions following the flood inquiry's interim report the previous August.
Yesterday Mr Winders said the manual the engineers had used was "pathetic . . . but it wasn't those poor buggers' fault".
"The new manual is just as bad because it's not optimising flood mitigation," he said.
Mr Winders said there was a governance problem in the management of water infrastructure.
With Premier Campbell Newman ruling out any further royal commissions into the floods, victims and taxpayers now face only the uncertain prospect that civil litigation will test whether the State Government managed the dams properly.
Law firm Maurice Blackburn has registered interest from 4000 people in a suit against the government, with 2000 "committed".
IMF, which is funding the action, said it was pressing ahead and the CMC decision had no effect.
IMF's John Walker said reports from US experts had been held up by State Government delays but their findings, mapping who would not have been flooded if the dams had been managed differently, were now expected by the end of next month and would be made public.
The engineers, John Tibaldi and Terry Malone of Seqwater, and Robert Ayre, previously of SunWater, all declined to comment. Friends and colleagues said the men were deeply relieved after a stressful period.
John Ruffini, a flood engineer who gave evidence at the inquiry but was not referred to the CMC, told The Courier-Mail yesterday that he felt for his colleagues.
"I've spoken to the guys and they're all very relieved," he said. "I've known them for a long time. They're very honest."
Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney said the engineers had been made "scapegoats" by the previous government.
He said he remained troubled that former Bligh government ministers "got off scot-free" in the aftermath of the devastating flood.
www.CourierMail.com.au
22.8.12
