SA Water confirms Barossa Reservoir’s dam is safe

SA Water has reassured communities downstream of the Barossa Reservoir like Gawler and Angle Vale, that the dam remains safe.

A recent news article incorrectly asserted the dam “failed a critical safety test” when the report referenced in the article actually confirmed the dam is in satisfactory condition, performing as designed and complies with the primary measure for dam safety.

SA Water’s Senior Manager of Capital Delivery Peter Seltsikas confirmed there are no known defects in the dam’s structure that have the potential to impact its safe operation.

“I want to assure our neighbouring communities living near the Barossa Reservoir their safety is of paramount importance, and the dam has always been, and continues to remain, safe,” Peter said.

“In addition to daily and annual inspections, we commission five-yearly independent engineering assessments of our dams to comprehensively assess their condition and these inform our day to day operations, maintenance schedules and more significant upgrade investments.

“Appropriately, dam safety guidelines are extremely conservative, so the report contemplated the dam’s ability to withstand the most extreme weather events – in this case the scenarios range from a ‘one in ten thousand year’ weather event to a ‘one in ten million year’ weather event.

“To put it into context, the devastating recent floods that have affected the south-east of Queensland were considered ‘one in one hundred year’ weather events.”

The primary potential improvement action noted in the report is the construction of a new spillway for the dam, which was not required by design standards when it was built – or throughout its 120 years of operation – but will be considered for the future.

“In the event of high inflows to the Barossa Reservoir, we have comprehensive management practices in place to safely release water and avoid a scenario where water spills over the top of the dam and these are tested across our wider portfolio on a regular basis,” Peter said.

“As our industry’s design and safety standards evolve over time, we’ve implemented a carefully considered program of dam upgrades such as South Para, Kangaroo Creek and Mount Bold, and our ongoing inspections of Barossa’s dam will help inform any future upgrade.”

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