The Queensland Audit Office examined the state government’s oversight of 107 dams owned by state entities — Sunwater and Seqwater,Stanwell Corporation,the Department of Resources and CleanCo — as well as local governments,private interests,mining and pastoral companies.
The audit raised serious questions over the lack of attention to dam safety — in a worst-case scenario,a dam failure could flood thousands of homes and businesses — and how already planned upgrades need to be delivered at a cost of billions of dollars.
The oversight has become so lax that one dam owner quizzed about delayed safety inspections “commented on the lack of follow up by the department on late reports”.
“There are multiple examples of safety reports that are years overdue. As an example,we found 22 comprehensive inspection reports since 2015 that were late and the department could not provide a reason,” the audit found.
“As at 10 February 2021,eight significant safety reports and 14 annual notifications were overdue as they were due but had not been received.”
At a glance
- Fourteen annual dam safety conditions notifications were overdue by average 132 days.
- Two annual safety inspections were overdue by 117 days
- Three five-yearly safety inspections were overdue by an average of 945 days.
- One 20 year major dam safety report was overdue by 2112 days.
- The department has not issued a fine for a dam owner not providing safety information on time since 2012.
Even the list of failed dam safety reports is not exhaustive because of poor record-keeping.