Water continues to be released from the Wivenhoe and Somerset dams and small releases have started at North Pine Dam, in response to the latest wet weather across south-east Queensland.
The releases began yesterday in response to heavy rain over catchments, but water authority Seqwater said it did not expect the releases to contribute to downstream flooding.
The state's bulk water authority said the gate releases are minor compared to the volume of water released as a result of last month’s rain deluge.
At this stage, approximately 50 cubic metres of water per second has been released from Wivenhoe Dam, according to Seqwater figures.
This is around 1/70th of the 3,500m3 per second of water released during the peak of the February rain event, its figures show.
"With a number of dams spilling and continued rainfall forecast, we urge people to take care downstream of spilling dams and [to] exercise caution near waterways and flood plains,'' Seqwater said.
Seqwater, which makes the call on when water should be let out of the region's dams, said "small" operational releases had started at North Pine Dam.
“These releases will be made via a cone valve and are not expected to cause disruption to Youngs Crossing Road. Releases may continue over the coming days to manage water levels,’’ Seqwater said.
The water releases from Wivenhoe have forced road closures at Twin Bridges and Savages Crosses until further notice, Seqwater said, and a combination of downstream river and creek flows from the releases was also expected to close Colleges Crossing today.
"The Mt Crosby Weir Bridge is not affected by releases but remains closed until further notice. Burtons Bridge and Kholo Bridge are also not expected to be affected at this time," Seqwater said.
Drinking water levels hit capacity, again
Wivenhoe Dam's capacity is sitting around 90 per cent and Somerset Dam's capacity is sitting above 80 per cent, Seqwater said.
Water is being released from Somerset Dam into Wivenhoe Dam to manage inflows and balance the water storage levels across both dams.
Both dams' flood storage compartments are available, but have reached their temporary full supply levels for drinking water storage, Seqwater said.
Wivenhoe's drinking water supply capacity is 1.165 million megalitres and its flood storage capacity is an additional 2.08 million megalitres.
Nineteen of the 23 ungated dams managed by Seqwater also continue to spill.
Seqwater said ungated dams are designed to spill during periods of heavy rain to ensure the protection and safety of the dam.
These include Atkinson, Baroon Pocket, Lake Manchester and Sideline Creek dams.
Outflows have increased from 11 of them — Enoggera, Hinze, Little Nerang, Maroon and Moogerah dams.
The latest information on dam levels can be found on the Seqwater website.
