Lenthalls Dam plan prepared for anything

Burrum District residents can sleep a little easier knowing the new action plan for Lenthalls Dam has covered every possible emergency

OVERFLOW: Hundreds of megalitres of water is running out of Lenthalls Dam. Picture: Eliza Wheeler

BURRUM District residents can sleep a little easier knowing the new action plan for Lenthalls Dam has covered every possible emergency.

Fraser Coast Councillor Rolf Light stressed there was no need to be concerned over the new plan.

Cr Light is the chairman of the Local Disaster Management group which oversees the council's disaster response capability in partnership with Emergency Service agencies.

"The plan is reviewed and updated every three to five years as science and technology is revised,” he told the Chronicle.

"We have planned for every possible scenario however unlikely they might be; for example if there was to be a breach of the dam wall from an earthquake or if a plane crashed into it.”

Cr Light said planning for the "what ifs” was a mature business approach to disaster management.

"Plan for the worst and hope for the best,” he said.

"All dams which have a potential to affect downstream residents are required to have an EAP.

"The plan is regularly updated to take into account changes to disaster management practices, new technology, and communication systems which Council and Wide Bay Water and Waste Services can use to contact residents.

"The EAP sets out roles and responsibilities of WBW, Council, the LDMG and other agencies as they respond to disasters.”

The public was invited to two public forums this week to hear about the updated Lenthalls Dam Emergency Action Plan.

A copy of the EAP will be available on the Have Your Say of the Council website frasercoast.qld.gov.au in October for residents to read and make comment.

Emergency Action Plan

The EAP is based on the following components:

• Emergency Events and Action Procedures;
• Flooding;
• Excessive or New Seepage Occurrence;
• Earthquake;
• Contamination of Catchment or Reservoir;
• Excessive Movement of the Dam;
• Terrorism
• An Object Crashing into the Dam, and;
• Damage to Concrete or Embankment Sections.