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| A map showing which parts of southeast Queensland should not have flooded (in green). Yellow marks parts that would have got 6 inches or more. |
Homes in West End, South Brisbane and Milton are among thousands that should not have flooded in 2011, according to maps released by Maurice Blackburn.
The law firm is launching a class action on behalf of flood victims saying the Wivenhoe Dam was not operated properly during the floods and thousands of homes which were inundated with water should not have flooded.
The law firm has used hydrologists in America to create modelling showing which houses needlessly went under water.
Milton, parts of West End, New Farm, Bulimba, South Brisbane and Eagle Street pier are all among the parts of Brisbane which should not have flooded, according to the hydrologists' maps.
Maurice Blackburn is being backed by litigation finder IMF Australia and is expect to finalise its case in the next two to three months.
Thousands of Brisbane and Ipswich flood victims are expected to launch a class action against the Queensland government, with lawyers saying Wivenhoe Dam was negligently operated.
Premier Campbell Newman said he had long been expecting Maurice Blackburn to mount a class action, but refused to comment further.
‘‘They’re a law firm, they’re going to push the case hard for their clients. I always expected that would be the case. It’s up to them,’’ he said.
Seqwater hit back with a statement from Seqwater CEO Terri Benson who said the organisation was "acutely" aware of the impacts of the floods.
He emphasised dam operators were effectively dealing with two 1974 floods within 30 hours of each other.
"Seqwater remains confident that Wivenhoe Dam was managed and performed as it was designed," he said.
"Our approach has been vindicated by a range of independent experts including one of the world’s leading dam authorities, the United States Bureau of Reclamation and United States Army Corps of Engineers."
Litigation funder IMF Australia said Monday its investigations have determined the dam wasn't operated to the standard expected of a reasonably "competent dam operator in all of the circumstances".
It said independent US experts engaged to carry out the investigation have identified two key failures: a failure to use rainfall forecasts in making decisions about [dam] operating strategies; and a failure to preserve a reasonable amount of Wivenhoe's storage capacity to provide optimum protection of urbanised areas from inundation.
IMF executive director John Walker has said he's now extremely confident a class action by flood victims will go ahead.
"Based on these investigations, IMF has formed an opinion that material flooding of a large number of properties downriver from the Wivenhoe dam would not have occurred had Wivenhoe been operated during the flood event to the standard expected of a reasonably competent dam operator in all of the circumstances," he said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange.
So far, 2000 Brisbane, Ipswich and Brisbane Valley flood victims have expressed interest in a class action.
But it could take four years to reach a resolution should a class action proceed.
Justice Catherine Holmes of the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry found last year dam engineers were not properly trained in the most serious water-release emergency level W4 under the operations manual.
The commission also found Seqwater made a “technical” breach of the legal dam manual that guided water releases because one of the flood engineers was not registered with the Board of Professional Engineers Queensland.
A hydrology report, commissioned by the Insurance Council of Australia, ruled the Brisbane flood to be a "dam release flood".
It named the release of water from Wivenhoe Dam as being the “principal immediate cause” of the riverine flood, as rain ceased about 6pm on January 11, 2011, more than 24 hours before the Brisbane River peaked overnight on January 12-13.
In its long-awaited final report, the commission of inquiry found non-compliance with the manual under which Wivenhoe Dam was supposed to be operated ahead of the January 2011 flood.
Former premier Anna Bligh said a breach of the dam's manual did not prove Seqwater, the government-owned operator of the dam, was liable for damage to thousands of homes and businesses.
www.BrisbaneTimes.com.au
21.1.13
