2014 – Adapting Water Supply Dams for Flood Mitigation and the Complexities Associated

Bronson McPherson, David Guest, Barton Maher, Ian Tanner and Amit Chanan

There is significant community interest in the potential for water supply dams to be adapted for flood mitigation, particularly for major dams located upstream of flood vulnerable populations. There may be a number of large dams which have the potential to provide significant flood mitigation benefits to Australian communities if they can be adapted for flood mitigation functionality. Other dams already provide significant flood mitigation benefits, however their limitations are not properly understood by the general public. Two major dams located near a large urban town centre prone to flooding are examined as a case study and some international cases are presented.
Flood mitigation often has a different funding source to water supply. The funding arrangements for flood mitigation dam works can be complex, considering the potential stakeholders and somewhat intangible benefits. If the community wants to use a water supply dam to provide flood mitigation then who provides the funding for the modification works?