Warragamba Dam wall to be raised to avoid catastrophic flood event


Three days before Warragamba Dam could spill due to severe storms, the Baird government has committed to raising its wall to prevent a potential flood disaster in western Sydney, four years after being advised to review the options.

As a looming east coast low raised the possibility that the dam could spill on Sunday, the government said it will commit $58 million towards raising the wall by 14 metres to avoid a catastrophe that could place 43,000 western Sydney residents at risk.

Construction, at an estimated cost of about $690 million, is expected to be complete within three to four years after a business case is signed off in 2019, subject to planning approvals.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/warragamba-dam-wall-to-be-raised-to-avoid-catastrophic-flood-event-20160616-gpkqly.html


Anyone still want to still deny human caused climate change ?

A NEW coal port that will cement Newcastle's place as the largest coal exporter in the world is quietly being built up by several metres, apparently in preparation for the rising sea levels brought about by climate chang


http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/coal-group-coy-about-port-exposure-to-rising-seas-20090614-c7g3.html

____ wrote on Jun 17^th, 2016 at 9:15am:

Warragamba Dam wall to be raised to avoid catastrophic flood event Three days before Warragamba Dam could spill due to severe storms, the Baird government has committed to raising its wall to prevent a potential flood disaster in western Sydney, four years after being advised to review the options. As a looming east coast low raised the possibility that the dam could spill on Sunday, the government said it will commit $58 million towards raising the wall by 14 metres to avoid a catastrophe that could place 43,000 western Sydney residents at risk. Construction, at an estimated cost of about $690 million, is expected to be complete within three to four years after a business case is signed off in 2019, subject to planning approvals. http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/warragamba-dam-wall-to-be-raised-to-avoid-catastrophic-flood-event-20160616-gpkqly.html Anyone still want to still deny human caused climate change ?

Sydney wont have to worry about its supply of water then ...good move!

Only the truly misguided could equate a plan to increase the Sydney water supply with alleged man made warming.

Extremes of human caused climate change include deeper droughts and extreme rain events.


Government is lifting dam infrastructure, when are they starting on lifting Kingsford Smith Airport, lifting all the roads, barricading along the coast and rivers, protecting Sydney Harbour from the rising ocean ... and who will pay?

Belgarion wrote on Jun 17^th, 2016 at 9:28am:

Only the truly misguided could equate a plan to increase the Sydney water supply with alleged man made warming.

It's about dangerous flooding due to increasing extremes from human caused climate change.

Global warming causes erections?

Laugh till you cry wrote on Jun 17^th, 2016 at 10:38am:

Global warming causes erections?

You are an erection!  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

____ wrote on Jun 17^th, 2016 at 9:36am:

Belgarion wrote on Jun 17th, 2016 at 9:28am: Only the truly misguided could equate a plan to increase the Sydney water supply with alleged man made warming. It's about dangerous flooding due to increasing extremes from human caused climate change.

Actually I disagree with this proposal to raise the dam wall. It will result in the destruction of a world heritage area and increase population pressure in the Sydney basin. 

Belgarion wrote on Jun 17^th, 2016 at 10:47am:

____ wrote on Jun 17th, 2016 at 9:36am: Belgarion wrote on Jun 17th, 2016 at 9:28am: Only the truly misguided could equate a plan to increase the Sydney water supply with alleged man made warming. It's about dangerous flooding due to increasing extremes from human caused climate change. Actually I disagree with this proposal to raise the dam wall. It will result in the destruction of a world heritage area and increase population pressure in the Sydney basin.

First question is this only a barrier to hold back large volumes of water during flood periods , to be quickly let out afterwards? If this is the case the world heritage area may not be as badly affected as if it was permanently flooded

What are the alternatives then? Leave as is and let a large part of western Sydney flood next time, that is a major destruction as well.

The dam is rarely full, probably not more than once in 10 years.

Sydney already has a desalination plant, therefore the need for more water once every ten years when the dam is full is dubious at best.

Will it take a 100 year rainfall to fill to the new height?

The whole thing is dubious at best, if not a misappropriation of public money, and somebody is  going to make a lot of money from construction of a white elephant:


Quote:

Warragamba Dam levels have exceeded 80 per cent for the first time in nearly 10 years. The dam, 60 kilometres west of Sydney, is the city's primary water source. The Warragamba catchment area is 9000 square kilometres. The last time the dam's levels rose above 80 per cent was June 2002, according to the Sydney Catchment Authority. It was at its lowest in February 2007 when it fell to less than 33 per cent. Advertisement In April 2005, when the dam was at little more than 40 per cent of its capacity, the environmentalist Tim Flannery said it might be in terminal decline. It had only two years' supply. From January 2010 to 2011, dam levels increased from nearly 50 per cent to 76 per cent, as an unusually wet spring replenished supplies after the drought. The last time Sydney dams were full was 1998. Debbie Low, a spokeswoman for the Sydney Catchment Authority, says dam levels are typically affected by factors such as consistency of rainfall, soil moisture and evaporation caused by summer heat. But they are also affected by political decisions and have political consequences. Water had previously been transferred to Warragamba from the full Tallowa dam on the upper Shoalhaven River. But the previous state Labor government cut off these transfers in 2008 and imposed a three-year moratorium. Excess water from Tallowa was instead diverted to surrounding rivers, which flowed into the sea. Transfers were resumed briefly in September but have since been cut off. Had the transfers continued over this period, Warragamba would be close to full, according to projections obtained by the Herald. The Greens say the government has manipulated Warragamba levels to keep them lower so the privatisation of the desalination plant at Kurnell is more attractive. Now that Warragamba's levels are more than 80 per cent, the supply from the desalination plant has been reduced. If Warragamba levels stay above 80 per cent for two years, the plant's supply will be cut off until levels reach 75 per cent again. The government is trying to sell the Kurnell plant for an estimated $1.5 billion. The Greens oppose the sale, arguing that the plant should be shut because its output is unnecessary and adds nearly $100 to the average water bill. They point to Warragamba's rise above 80 per cent as further evidence it is not needed. But the government has welcomed the rise of dam levels and says it will not affect the decision to privatise the desalination plant. "This will have absolutely no impact on the long-term lease of the plant," the Minister for Finance and Services, Greg Pearce, said. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/water-issues/dam-level-hits-10year-high-20111222-1p7rk.html#ixzz4BnJj5QQZ

____ wrote on Jun 17^th, 2016 at 9:15am:

Warragamba Dam wall to be raised to avoid catastrophic flood event Three days before Warragamba Dam could spill due to severe storms, the Baird government has committed to raising its wall to prevent a potential flood disaster in western Sydney, four years after being advised to review the options. As a looming east coast low raised the possibility that the dam could spill on Sunday, the government said it will commit $58 million towards raising the wall by 14 metres to avoid a catastrophe that could place 43,000 western Sydney residents at risk. Anyone still want to still deny human caused climate change ?

Tim Flannery a radical imam from the Climate change religion was preaching Warragamba dam would never be full again and warned there was only 2 years worth of water left in 2005.

The Climate change religion makes it up as they go along, can you get your story straight with this dam.

Quote:

Climate change is working against Sydney, There's only two years water supply in Warragamba dam says Flannery Warragamba Dam is never again going to be full Leftist source- smh.com.au/news/Opinion/Running-out-of-water--and-time/2005/04/24/1114281450815.html

We listened to the fearmongers on climate change and spent billions on desalination plants that are not used because they are not needed.

Baronvonrort wrote on Jun 17^th, 2016 at 11:19am:

____ wrote on Jun 17th, 2016 at 9:15am: Warragamba Dam wall to be raised to avoid catastrophic flood event Three days before Warragamba Dam could spill due to severe storms, the Baird government has committed to raising its wall to prevent a potential flood disaster in western Sydney, four years after being advised to review the options. As a looming east coast low raised the possibility that the dam could spill on Sunday, the government said it will commit $58 million towards raising the wall by 14 metres to avoid a catastrophe that could place 43,000 western Sydney residents at risk. Anyone still want to still deny human caused climate change ? Tim Flannery a radical imam from the Climate change religion was preaching Warragamba dam would never be full again and warned there was only 2 years worth of water left in 2005. The Climate change religion makes it up as they go along, can you get your story straight with this dam. Quote: Climate change is working against Sydney, There's only two years water supply in Warragamba dam says Flannery Warragamba Dam is never again going to be full Leftist source- smh.com.au/news/Opinion/Running-out-of-water--and-time/2005/04/24/1114281450815.html We listened to the fearmongers on climate change and spent billions on desalination plants that are not used because they are not needed.

Cherry picking opinions and calling other's names.


Ever considered a fact base position for yourself?

What if an entity bought the Kurnell desalination plant at a giveaway price and made a big profit? Shipped it to an overseas buyer and sold the land?

____ wrote on Jun 17^th, 2016 at 9:36am:

Belgarion wrote on Jun 17th, 2016 at 9:28am: Only the truly misguided could equate a plan to increase the Sydney water supply with alleged man made warming. It's about dangerous flooding due to increasing extremes from human caused climate change.

'Event attribution aims to estimate the role of an external driver after the occurrence of an extreme weather and climate event by comparing the probability that the event occurs in two counterfactual worlds. These probabilities are typically computed using ensembles of climate simulations whose simulated probabilities are known to be imperfect. The implications of using imperfect models in this context are largely unknown, limited by the number of observed extreme events in the past to conduct a robust evaluation. Using an idealized framework, this model limitation is studied by generating large number of simulations with variable reliability in simulated probability. The framework illustrates that unreliable climate simulations are prone to overestimate the attributable risk to climate change. Climate model ensembles tend to be overconfident in their representation of the climate variability which leads to systematic increase in the attributable risk to an extreme event. Our results suggest that event attribution approaches comprising of a single climate model would benefit from ensemble calibration in order to account for model inadequacies similarly as operational forecasting systems.'

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2015GL067189/abstract?utm_source=Daily+Carbon+Briefing&utm_campaign=48b659ab46-cb_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_876aab4fd7-48b659ab46-303449629

'By various measures (drought area1 and intensity2, climatic aridity index3, and climatic water deficits4), some observational analyses have suggested that much of the Earth’s land has been drying during recent decades, but such drying seems inconsistent with observations of dryland greening and decreasing pan evaporation5. ‘Offline’ analyses of climate-model outputs from anthropogenic climate change (ACC) experiments portend continuation of putative drying through the twenty-first century3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, despite an expected increase in global land precipitation9. A ubiquitous increase in estimates of potential evapotranspiration (PET), driven by atmospheric warming11, underlies the drying trends4, 8, 9, 12, but may be a methodological artefact5. Here we show that the PET estimator commonly used (the Penman–Monteith PET13 for either an open-water surface1, 2, 6, 7, 12 or a reference crop3, 4, 8, 9, 11) severely overpredicts the changes in non-water-stressed evapotranspiration computed in the climate models themselves in ACC experiments. '

http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate3046.html

We are so not doomed it appears.

Belgarion wrote on Jun 17^th, 2016 at 9:28am:

Only the truly misguided could equate a plan to increase the Sydney water supply with alleged man made warming.

well it can't possibly be linked to human greed can it ??

Wow - how much extra would that Warragamba catchment cover if it was raised fifty feet?  Anyone provided a map yet?

Apparently not only is 'global warming' causing the oceans to rise, but the dams as well.. buggar me!  We might see a flooded for good Lake Eyre yet.... open it up to the sea and install the GAIA Phase I..... we'll forcefully remove the Eyrian Mud Kipper and the Saltbush Striped Sloth to a better environment so they won't become extinct.

Put all those boat people to digging the canal from Port Pirie or whatever....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg2O5SlZ25g

Sir lastnail wrote on Jun 17^th, 2016 at 1:48pm:

Belgarion wrote on Jun 17th, 2016 at 9:28am: Only the truly misguided could equate a plan to increase the Sydney water supply with alleged man made warming. well it can't possibly be linked to human greed can it ??

Or increased water requirements based on increased population growth, that would be fools talk.

Sir Grappler Truth Teller OAM wrote on Jun 17^th, 2016 at 1:55pm:

Wow - how much extra would that Warragamba catchment cover if it was raised fifty feet?  Anyone provided a map yet? Apparently not only is 'global warming' causing the oceans to rise, but the dams as well.. buggar me!  We might see a flooded for good Lake Eyre yet.... open it up to the sea and install the GAIA Phase I..... we'll forcefully remove the Eyrian Mud Kipper and the Saltbush Striped Sloth to a better environment so they won't become extinct. Put all those boat people to digging the canal from Port Pirie or whatever.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg2O5SlZ25g

A good contour map of the district would show how much extra land would be taken up by the 50 feet. 16 metrres

Weather.

lee wrote on Jun 17^th, 2016 at 2:41pm:

Sir Grappler Truth Teller OAM wrote on Jun 17th, 2016 at 1:55pm: Wow - how much extra would that Warragamba catchment cover if it was raised fifty feet?  Anyone provided a map yet? Apparently not only is 'global warming' causing the oceans to rise, but the dams as well.. buggar me!  We might see a flooded for good Lake Eyre yet.... open it up to the sea and install the GAIA Phase I..... we'll forcefully remove the Eyrian Mud Kipper and the Saltbush Striped Sloth to a better environment so they won't become extinct. Put all those boat people to digging the canal from Port Pirie or whatever.... media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg2O5SlZ25g[/media] A good contour map of the district would show how much extra land would be taken up by the 50 feet. 16 metrres

Wow! You must be a denier-scientist. Mixing imperial and metric measures and no evidence for your claim.

Laugh till you cry wrote on Jun 17^th, 2016 at 6:43pm:

Wow! You must be a denier-scientist. Mixing imperial and metric measures and no evidence for your claim.

Sir Grappler Truth Teller OAM wrote on Jun 17^th, 2016 at 1:55pm:

Wow - how much extra would that Warragamba catchment cover if it was raised fifty feet?

50 feet equals 15.24 metres. Close to 16 metres.

No evidence of what? Raising a dam wall 50 feet could raise the water behind the dam, up to a 50 foot (15.24m) higher contour line?   You really disagree with that statement?

lee wrote on Jun 17^th, 2016 at 7:33pm:

Laugh till you cry wrote on Jun 17th, 2016 at 6:43pm: Wow! You must be a denier-scientist. Mixing imperial and metric measures and no evidence for your claim. Sir Grappler Truth Teller OAM wrote on Jun 17th, 2016 at 1:55pm: Wow - how much extra would that Warragamba catchment cover if it was raised fifty feet? 50 feet equals 15.24 metres. Close to 16 metres. No evidence of what? Raising a dam wall 50 feet could raise the water behind the dam, up to a 50 foot (15.24m) higher contour line?   You really disagree with that statement?

Sorry Darling. Wrong again. A prudent man would take into account wave height which might mean the dam could not be filled to 15.24 metres and definitely not 16 metres.

As chief protagonist of a 15.24 metre erection, what would be the effect of an earthquake?

Raising the dam wall won't stop a catastrophic weather event .............. mother nature always bests that

it will destroy even more environment for wildlife by flooding more land or property

it will more likely probably benefit a private enterprise water company by increasing the volume they can sell

And from what I can see the natural sides ...especially the southern side wouldn't support a 46 foot increase in the height.

Laugh till you cry wrote on Jun 17^th, 2016 at 7:59pm:

A prudent man would take into account wave height which might mean the dam could not be filled to 15.24 metres and definitely not 16 metres. As chief protagonist of a 15.24 metre erection, what would be the effect of an earthquake?

Warragamba is now in an earthquake zone? DamN. ;)

They would fill to the height of the spillway. That is how they are designed.

lee wrote on Jun 17^th, 2016 at 2:41pm:

Sir Grappler Truth Teller OAM wrote on Jun 17th, 2016 at 1:55pm: Wow - how much extra would that Warragamba catchment cover if it was raised fifty feet?  Anyone provided a map yet? Apparently not only is 'global warming' causing the oceans to rise, but the dams as well.. buggar me!  We might see a flooded for good Lake Eyre yet.... open it up to the sea and install the GAIA Phase I..... we'll forcefully remove the Eyrian Mud Kipper and the Saltbush Striped Sloth to a better environment so they won't become extinct. Put all those boat people to digging the canal from Port Pirie or whatever.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg2O5SlZ25g A good contour map of the district would show how much extra land would be taken up by the 50 feet. 16 metrres

I know that - which is why I raised the question... and the next question is:-  Is Baird talking through his hat? Some homes may disappear under an extra fifty feet of water... allowing for a spillway at the top....

lee wrote on Jun 17^th, 2016 at 9:12pm:

Laugh till you cry wrote on Jun 17th, 2016 at 7:59pm: A prudent man would take into account wave height which might mean the dam could not be filled to 15.24 metres and definitely not 16 metres. As chief protagonist of a 15.24 metre erection, what would be the effect of an earthquake? Warragamba is now in an earthquake zone? DamN. ;) They would fill to the height of the spillway. That is how they are designed.

You don't get it. Waves!

I am awarding you an F in dam design.

Laugh till you cry wrote on Jun 17^th, 2016 at 10:01pm:

You don't get it. Waves!

That is taken into consideration in the design stage. Each dam will be unique. What are the wave problems at Warragamba? Is it considered a problem at all?

BTW I don't care who you wave to.

Laugh till you cry wrote on Jun 17^th, 2016 at 10:01pm:

You don't get it. Waves! I am awarding you an F in dam design.

So says the master builder HIMSELF.

What would you know............ ;D ;D ;D

'The spillway:

    prevents dambreak in extreme floods
    protects Sydney's major water supply
    reduces risk of dambreak flooding
    reduces potential flood levels at Windsor by up to four metres
    is the most practical and cost-effective way to increase flood handling capacity
    enables the dam to fully comply with modern dam safety standards.'

'In the event of an extreme flood, five erodible earth and clay walls or 'fuse plugs' built across the upstream opening of the auxiliary spillway would progressively wash away by the rising floodwaters. The auxiliary spillway would then divert excess floodwater around the dam. The 'flip bucket' at the downstream end of the auxiliary spillway manages the floodwaters entering the river at the point where they meet the flow from the central spillway. This dissipates the water's energy and minimises erosion of the riverbed and banks.'

http://www.waternsw.com.au/supply/Greater-Sydney/safety/warragamba-dam-auxiliary-spillway

No mention of waves there.

To increase the height of the dam wall they are going to have replace those 5 erodible plugs.