THE river at Rockhampton, even while 25 miles from its mouth at the Pacific Ocean, is still tidal, so the salt water backs up into the river with the tides. Fresh water flows down the river. So as a constant supply of fresh water is maintained for supply to the City, the salt cannot be allowed to mix with the fresh. So the Barrage was constructed across the River, not a dam per se, but just a means to keep the salt out of the fresh. Concrete Pylons were constructed, and in the gaps between them large steel gates were installed… Read more here: http://papundits.wordpress.com/2011/01/02/the-rockhampton-flood-crisis-the-fitzroy-river-barrage/
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Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
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Thanks to Tony for some great posts and to Jen for promoting them on her blog
To those of you who are conservationists Barnaby Joyce is swimming in hot water at the SMH today and could do with some support
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/and-not-a-stop-to-think-as-government-ignores-water-20110102-19cza.html#poll
Good to see the flood has peaked at Riverslea. Hopefully Rocky won’t see too much more rise and then a big drain-off.
There is a vote option at the Barnaby SMH article; go and vote.
There are secondary peaks passing down the Mackenzie at Tartrus,and the Dawson around Moura which will put another rise through Riverslea in a few days-this is the basis for the projections for Rockhampton staying above major flood level for the next week and more. There is an unfathomably vast amount of water-the bridge at Riverslea has been 23 to 24m under water for days- slowly draining out,and the Fitzroy remains incredibly vulnerable to any return of serious rain in any of the feeder streams. The river has been at some kind of flood stage since the beginning of December.
There are a bunch of flood projections on PDFs for various heights at the Rocky gauge -7.5m,8.5m,9m and 9.5m-available at the Rockhampton Regional Council website. The old town becomes an island after 7.5m as water moves from the river over Ridgelands Road across the lagoon country to the NW and into the abandoned river meander looping to the west,south west and south of the city. The river is up to 8km wide around the city.
The Fitzroy Basin is the second largest river catchment basin in Australia, and what is amazing is that the biggest is the Murray Darling which has 23 major rivers in that system is almost 7 times the size of the Fitzroy Basin.
The Fitzroy starts at the confluence of the Dawson, (flowing from the South…ish) and the McKenzie, (flowing from the North…ish)
The Dawson has the Dee and the Don flowing into it.
The Mckenzie has the Nogoa, the Comet and the Isaac flowing into it, and the Connors flows into the Isaac.
Counting the Fitzroy, that makes 9 rivers, and this is the first time in recorded history that all 9 have been in major flood.
Now, while the new peak is still flowing down the Dawson, and yet to reach Riverslea, and with a peak still in the Mckenzie only, luckily those other 6 are falling, so that station at Riverslea may still be slowly receding even with new peaks coming down those other two, if you can see that.
Well more drivel from Barnaby. Think of the infrastructure sitting unused for the previous 20 years. Go to Ord II instead.
Yes,Barnaby is doing the lazy stuff as usual. Does he think that generations of hydrographers and engineers haven’t searched for dam sites that are practical? Joyce can put out the call,and never bother with the specifics it seems. As a politician he is well placed to request briefings from experts.
Would someone here like to nominate a site for a dam or off-stream storage on the Condamine-Balonne that would usefully mitigate flooding? Costings,location,geotechnics,pump capacities and such like. Then compare the cost of improving flood-preparedness for a town like Condamine.
Will anyone concede that,as Fairbairn Dam provided no mitigation in the two recent record floods,a smaller dam at Nathan Gorge would be similarly useless in a year like this? How did Emerald get zoned the way it is? How can new houses go under up to their eaves given Emeralds documented flood history?
here’s a timely article
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2011/01/who-are-the-climate-denialists-now
(a couple of paras)
Although the climate change bandwagon may appear to roll on unstoppably regardless of all doubts or discredit, it has in fact suffered a serious loss of momentum in public acceptance. It has lost power and is now only coasting while trying to maintain a face saving facade for those so deeply committed that any graceful retreat is unthinkable.
Worse still from the alarmist perspective, has been the painfully obvious failure of climate itself to cooperate. For the past three years all over the world savagely cold winter weather has repeatedly set new records for snow and low temperatures. Time after time global warming conferences have been greeted by record and near record cold weather. Trying to dismiss this as merely coincidence or just weather, not climate, has lost all credibility; especially after it has happened repeatedly amidst a background of extreme winter conditions over large areas. Continuing to offer this increasingly lame excuse has only made it look more like a lie or delusion than an explanation.
Regardless of the ongoing hype and spin of the diehard proponents of AGW, the attitude of a large majority of the electorate has turned decisively against the idea of any imminent threat. This shift in sentiment is unlikely to reverse anytime soon. It developed over time and involves not just the Climategate emails but a much wider shift in the balance of public awareness as well as a sense of betrayal and dishonesty by researchers claiming certainty and righteousness. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Once a belief is abandoned, few people readily return to something they have decided was false. All the spin and hype is now achieving is to exacerbate the discredit. For supposedly intelligent people, this kind of behaviour does not indicate it.
Meanwhile, as the warmists continue their doomscrying and seeking further hundreds of billions of dollars to carry on their vast charade, the whole economic structure upon which everything depends is teetering on the brink of disaster with little effort to address or to even recognise the very real and present dangers which confront us.
Barnaby is way out in front with his dam building exercise, 67% when last sighted.
Poly in relation to your comment ‘Would someone here like to nominate a site for a dam or off-stream storage on the Condamine-Balonne that would usefully mitigate flooding? ‘
Best to put this question to an engineer with the appropriate experience and knowledge of the area
Unfortunately I don’t know any
Talking of drivel Luke,
the only time it flows freely here is when you join the fray.
Care to name some of the infrastructure, as you call it, that has been unused for 20 years.
I’d really like to know about that.
Poly,
We do not and likely never will build dams to stop flooding.
This could only ever be done with a whole of valley approach, which we may do at some time in the future, but unlikely now.
However there are numerous sites all over the MDB where excess water can be conserved for release in dryer times.
This is also the case over most of the rest of Australia.
As a Nation we have barely begun to use the vast water capacity we have to increase conservation of our most abundant renewable resource for the betterment of man and the environment.
We really can largely drought proof Australia and thereby also produce lagre quantities of clean, turn -on as required hydro power.
This is a wake-up call to begin doing so.
Pikey.
Well Pikey – obviously afternoon tea time at the home – I did not say existing infrastructure was “unused” – typical verballing sceptic – do tell how much water would have been provided by more Queensland dams diverted inland into the MDB and at what vast expense over the last 20 years before this event – if anything to evaporate from shallow storages. Stop over-exploiting your southern systems – get off your butt and move to where the water is – northern Australia !
And don’t you just love the denialist bunk from Val – pity the temperature trend is still up eh? And thanks for not mentioning the heatwaves in the same period. Never trust the denialist mantra or motivations. http://www.woodfortrees.org/plot/rss Oh dear – reality ! Yes fool me once indeed – typical 5th columnists.
http://en.mercopress.com/2010/07/20/russians-exposed-to-the-worst-heat-wave-in-130-years
In early 2009, Adelaide, South Australia was hit by a heat wave with temperatures reaching 40+ °C for six days in a row, while many rural areas experienced temperatures hovering around about mid 40s °C (mid 110s°F). Kyancutta on the Eyre Peninsula endured at least one day at 48 °C, with 46 and 47 being common in the hottest parts of the state. Melbourne, in neighbouring Victoria recorded 3 consecutive days over 43 °C (109 °F), and also recorded its highest ever temperature 8 days later in a secondary heatwave, with the mercury peaking at 46.4 °C (115.5 °F). During this heat wave Victoria suffered from large bushfires which claimed the lives of more than 210 people and destroyed more than 2,500 homes. There were also over half a million people without power as the heatwave blew transformers and the power grid was overloaded.
In August 2009, Argentina experienced a period of unusual and exceptionally hot weather during August 24–30, 2009 during the Southern Hemisphere winter, just a month before Spring[36] when a unusual and unrecorded winter heat wave hit the country. A shot of tropical heat drawn unusually far southward hiked temperatures 22 degrees above normal in the city of Buenos Aires and across the northern-centre regions of the country. Several records were broken. Even though normal high temperatures for late August are in the lower 15 °C (59 °F), readings topped 30 °C (86 °F) degrees at midweek, then topped out above 32 °C (90 °F) degrees during the weekend.[37] Temperatures hit 33.8 °C (92.8 °F) on 29 August and finally 34.6 °C (94.3 °F) on 30 August in Buenos Aires, making it the hottest day ever recorded in winter breaking the 1996 winter record of 33.7 °C (92.7 °F). In the city of Santa Fe, a remarkable 38.3 °C (100.9 °F) degrees on 30 August was registered, notwithstanding the normal high in the upper 15 °C/60°Fs. As per the Meteorological Office of Argentina August 2009 has been the warmest month during winter since official measurements began.[38]
The Northern Hemisphere summer heat wave of 2010 affected many areas across the Northern Hemisphere, especially parts of Northeastern China and Southeastern Russia.
In June 2010, Eastern Europe experienced very warm conditions. Ruse, Bulgaria hit 36.6 °C (97.9 °F) on the 13th making it the warmest spot in Europe. Other records broken on the 13th includes Vidin, Bulgaria at 35.8 °C (96.4 °F), Sandanski, Bulgaria hitting 35.5 °C (95.9 °F), Lovech and Pazardzhik, Bulgaria at 35.1 °C (95.2 °F) as well as the capital, Sofia, hitting 33.3 °C (91.9 °F). The heat comes from the Sahara desert and is not associated with rain. This helped the situation with high water levels in that part of the continent.[39] On the 14th, several cities were once again above the 35 °C (95 °F) mark even though they didn’t break records. The only cities in Bulgaria breaking records were Musala peak hitting 15.2 °C (59.4 °F) and Elhovo hitting 35.6 °C (96.1 °F).[40] On the 15th, Ruse, Bulgaria peaked at 37.2 °C (99.0 °F). Although it was not a record, this was the highest temperature recorded in the country. 5 Bulgarian cities broke records that day: Ahtopol hit 28.6 °C (83.5 °F), Dobrich was 33.8 °C (92.8 °F), Karnobat hit 34 °C (93 °F), Sliven hit 35 °C (95 °F) and Elhovo recorded 36.1 °C (97.0 °F).[41]
From July 4-July 9, 2010 the majority of the American East Coast, from the Carolinas to Maine, was gripped in a severe heat wave. Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, Washington, Raleigh, and even Boston eclipsed 100 °F (38 °C). Many records were broken, some of which dated back to the 1800s, including Wilmington, Delaware’s temperature of 103 °F (39 °C) on Wednesday, the 7th, which broke the record of 97 °F (36 °C) from 1897. Philadelphia and New York eclipsed 100 °F (38 °C) for the first time since 2001. Fredrick, Maryland, and Newark, New Jersey, among others topped the century mark (37.8 Celsius) for four days in a row.[42]
The UK declared a heatwave, MetOffice Level 2/4, on the 9th July 2010 for South East England and East Anglia. This was after temperatures reached 31.0 degrees Celsius in London and night time temperatures levelled around 21 degrees Celsius.
Japanese heat wave of 2010, from July 16 to present, temperatures of high rising to around Japanese cities for long period, above high temperatures of 35.0 °C (95.0 °F) days, 33 days in Kyoto, 29 days in Tottori and 25 days in Osaka. According to Japan Meteological Agency report, some of Japanese cities record of highest temperature in September, since 1868. 39.9 °C (103.8 °F) hitting in Kyotanabe, Kyoto, 39.1 °C (102.4 °F) hitting in Gujo, Gifu, and above high of 30.0 °C (86.0 °F) is 653 cities, 35.0 °C (95.0 °F) is 128 cities during September 4 to 5, 2010
Thanks Wiki !
BTW Val – don’t think the global climate actually cares what a thing called “an electorate”thinks.
‘The UK declared a heatwave, MetOffice Level 2/4, on the 9th July 2010 for South East England and East Anglia. This was after temperatures reached 31.0 degrees Celsius in London and night time temperatures levelled around 21 degrees Celsius.’
And they call that a heatwave.
As Motty says the answer is to build big “tanks” a la Cubby Station which are cheap to build and multiples of them can hold huge amounts of water. You dig a hole just off the flood plain and use the spoil to build a perimeter wall then add catchment wings, fluming and non-return flaps.
But don’t kid yourself that there are no dam sites. They are plentiful. It’s just the motivation that is lacking. In years such as this, dams may not provide too much flood mitigation becaues the water just keeps on coming but is that any reason to reject this manna from heaven?
As predicted the “drivel meter” has just gone off the scale.
Lukes back and backsliding and changing the subject as usual.
Luke, by any reasonable assessment that is what you said and is what you have previously claimed on this blog.
You postulate with such volume and authority that you forget what you have said.
Most of which is drivel anyway.
Luke, we have had this discussion re water before, you were proven wrong then and are still wrong.
I have no intention of going through the whole thing again.
Nor have I ever advocated moving water from the north to the MDB.
If you took a little time to read some of my papers you will see I am totally against it.
This course is unnecessary and not in Australias best interest.
With due respect to Spangles and Motty, while in any water conservation program there are places for off flow “turkey nest” dams, they will never be the backbone of any major conservation works.
The reason is they have to by definition be filled by pumping and this immediately limits the amount of water saved in a flood or high flow situation.
It is uneconomic to dig a hole to store large volumes and the flatness of all flood plains precludes gravity into turkey nest type dams.
On stream dams are the most efficient method of conserving water and there are countless sites to do just this.
They can all be paid for by the sale of hydro power.
These are followed by off stream storages in natural depressions (Menindee Lakes and Lake Victoria,) which can be emptied by gravity.
Next we have similar natural depression storages that need to be emptied by pumping.
Lastly we have the “turkey nest” that can be emptied by gravity.
As you can appreciate it is better to be pumping out rather than pumping in, simly because the volumes are less due to the longer periods of time available.
Flood flows do not last for long and any water capturing has to be done quickly.
Pikey.
Ron,if flood mitigation is not a possible on streams like the Condamine-Balonne,then the likes of B.Joyce should not be insinuating that mitigation is a dividend of the water projects he yearns for but won’t describe.
And he might acknowledge that a lot is going on. There is the coal-seam gas project near Chinchilla that will produce saline water to be treated and added to Chinchilla Weir,not far from coming on stream.Theoretical benefits include taking pressure off shallow aquifers in the area. First phase of this project will generate 72 ML/day,though one wonders how this will affect the deep aquifers over and beyond the life of the project…and no doubt there’ll be accusations of dumping water when the next flood comes around 😉
Paradise Dam [300GL] is a recent [2005] addition to the Burnett catchment and filled to spill for the first time early this year.
There are projects afoot in the Fitzroy besides Nathan. Connors River dam [330+GL] is another-for the coal industry- and there are weir projects on the Fitzroy that are aimed at more productive land use upstream of Rockhampton.
You’ve suggested small storages in the headwaters of the Murrumbidgee tributaries entering d/s of Gundagai,but have you explored their benefit? How much more irrigable area remains along these streams,and where is the evidence that the potential production is worth the expense? Could you point out suitable sites?
I think Barnaby is just letting his constituency know he is still there and he cares-and I don’t doubt he does-but this is really boiler-plate flood-time talk from him.
Pikey,
“Tanks” as per Cubby Station dont have to filled by pumping. The water flows in and usually only the dregs have to be extracted by big windmills or engine power. That’s the purpose of the non-return valves, to keep the water levels high and capable of gravitating out after the flood recedes.
Luke
‘In early 2009, Adelaide, South Australia was hit by a heat wave with temperatures reaching 40+ °C for six days in a row…’
Yes, obviously a record (actually 9 days in a row of over 35C for that period). However, Adelaide’s hottest Jan is still 1908 (34.2C) and hottest Feb in 1906 (33.0C). Jan 1906 was 32.9C so the beginning of that year was Adelaide’s warmest, much warmer than 2009 at 32C and 31.4C respectively.
And, according to the Argus newspaper (no Melbourne Reg Office until 1855), the temp before the 1851 bushfires was 47.2C (117F). Those fires covered approximately 5 million hectares (25% of Victoria).
So we have had hot weather this year and cold weather. We have had hot weather recently and hot weather in the past.
We have even had worst bushfires.
I presume that is the point you are making.
Flooky Luke,
“get off your butt and move to where the water is – northern Australia !”
Are you serious?
Isn’t the real problem that we get stymied by all these expert opinions and then we end up doing nothing?
Pikey is right, flood mitigation is not the main reason we build dams.
The number one rule of dams in Australia is they are built to store water in times of excess so that we can manage this very precious resources in the inevitable times of shortage.
With the addition of diversion techniques and pumping and a “whole of valley approach” it is possible to help mitigate some flooding and when added to the construction of levees and sensible town planning there are many other ways to help.
Of course, all of this costs money and we would also need polticians with vision to implement such projects.
I do wonder why so many people seem to have forgotten that this is a land “of drought and flooding rains”
Most of our early Australian literature focuses on the excesses of our climate and our struggle to survive it.
Both these excesses in our climate cause significant loss and hardship. Droughts are slow and crippling whereas floods are instant and devastating.
Because we have both, we should be working on helping to manage the excesses of both.
While we operate under the mindset that is prevalent at the moment and everyone argues whether it is getting warmer or colder or wetter or drier and staggering amounts of money are being spent on ways to predict and analyse our climate, we end up doing NOTHING to manage the excesses of our highly variable and unpredctable climate.
As I mentioned elsewhere on this post, every action has consequences and no-one would argue that building more dams and more diversion systems would have no consequences. Of course they would.
Inaction also has consequences.
Don’t forget that many of our rivers are already regulated and there is no way we can dismantle that. If they need upgrading and improving, then that’s what we should be doing shouldn’t we?
Shouldn’t we be asking our Nation’s brightest minds to start working out ways to make our already regulated rivers even better and also working out ways to regulate the ones that so obviously need it? The damage bill from both floods and droughts would definitely warrant this.
Leaving it to nature is not a good plan!
What has happened in Australia over the last decade is further evidence that we need to do more.
In some parts of Australia in 2010, we saw an instant reversal from a crippling drought to raging floods. As many people have pointed out here and elsewhere, this is not unusual either.
Doing nothing has far greater consequences.
Debbie I conpletely agree; here’s a copy of my comment on http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/and-not-a-stop-to-think-as-government-ignores-water-20110102-19cza.html?comments=53 today
Good article Barnaby; Australia must adapt to its climate and that has always been ‘droughts and flooding rains’; and adaption means we have to conserve water when we have the flooding rain events to provide for the inevitable droughts; I’m all in favour of more dams with expert advice on placement and dams subject to placement might also mitigate the effect of floods and would certainly lessen the current waste with all the water going out to sea
and as you say Debbie ‘Doing nothing has far greater consequences’
No Spangles – he’s past it for such adventures. 🙂 Just stirring his myopic view of over-exploited southern centric view Australian resources.
So it’s interesting bloggians here up govts for the rent on desal plants but OK to build any dam infrastructure at unknown benefit and unknown yield. Easy to say when there’s a flood on. But what’s the long term benefit?
Interestingly looking at unused infrastructure – poor old Copeton Dam is sitting there at 50%.
And all over Queensland people have ignored the lessons of history and built on flood plains.
for sea level rise enthusiasts http://wattsupwiththat.com/
Bangladesh, the Poster Child
summary last para
Deltas are formed at the boundary of rivers and oceans. The rivers that build deltas flow to low and slowly sinking parts of the crust, where large volumes of sediment are being deposited. They will always be in balance with sea level but almost by definition increase in size, if rivers are allowed to follow their course. Deltas, by their very nature are building out and up. They also tend to flood frequently and seasonally, often with disastrous effects on the inhabitants. People living in deltas should learn to swim, have a boat and generally be aware of what can happen. Sea level rise is not an issue in large deltas; they have been proven to be able to keep up with any sea level rise. Flooding disasters are seasonally the result of excessive run-off, and occasionally due to unfortunate storm surges that result in breaks through natural barriers, but this has nothing to do with sea level rise. Bangladesh will be there, even if all the ice in the world has melted, with its people still fighting floods while farming the fertile floodplains.
Luke,
If we didn’t build on flood plains in a country as flat as Australia we would never have got anywhere. Check out that gold mine, the channel country, sometime.
Ya just gotta know when to hold ’em and fold ’em. And also when to run.
val,
That’s a great and true post and so typical of the story of the human race. And why you have to be just a little sceptical.
Gone to water have we Luke!
We are now back talking about unused infrastructure are we?
Since when was a dam half full and filling fast a waste?
The only reason the Gwydir river was kept running during all of the recent long drought was because of Copedom Dam.
Spangles,
While we agree on most things and I accept that it is some time since I was at Cubby, (I was heading up ther last week and had to turn back because of floods), I have to disagree on your views of water harvesting at Cubby.
The property has a high flow license from the Queensland water Authority to extract up to 72,000 megs of water when flows are above a certain level.
This water is pumped into their storages which total almost 500,000 megs.
Additional to this they harvest water from the floodplain that would otherwise simply spread across the plain and produce grass for grazing.
The initial inflow is gravity but the vast majority of this is pumped.
This is particularly so since the height of the retaining walls were increased recently to improve the volume to area ratio to cut down on evaporation.
Once stored most of this water is then gravity fed to crop fields.
Windmills are not used for extraction to my knowledge.
Poly,
Too many unrelated issues Mate.
Let’s stick to the subject.
When I was talking about dams on creeks that feed the Murrumbidgee I did not mention increasing irrigated area along these creeks.
I did however point out that if this was done then irrigation would be much more reliable in the creek valleys.
The reason for extra dams and weirs (I haven’t detailed the design) is to increase the overall storage capacity within the whole Murrumbidgee valley to better allow us to maintain river flow and commitments to all users during drought times.
I particularly take issue with your claim that B.J. or I or anyone advocating the building of dams is justified because of flood mitagation.
It is not and never has been the reason.
Please get into your head that the volume of water that flows down all of our river valleys in flood times is many, many times the capacity of any existing or proposed dam or dams.
This is precisely why, contrary to Luke’s claims, that the building of new dams makes sense.
We have vast water resources as long as we conserve them in times of abundance.
Anyone who cannot see this from the television news over the last few months has a serious problem.
Debbie,
most of our self acclaimed brightest minds are in fact impractical clowns.
Let’s ask people of practical experience and knowledge of the environment and history of the area about which we are speaking.
Then let the engineers go to work.
Pikey.
Pikey,
I wasn’t trying to justify the great water-grab at Cubby, just that type of “tank”.
And you are probably right in that they are too excessive. I was advocating the big earth tank that is built on big cropping downs properties these days. Like you see on the Darling Downs. We used to build ’em that way around Longreach 50-60 years ago only smaller.
Ron, I’m not accusing you of what Barnaby has been up to,so don’t stick up for him…go and read the SMH article,Joyce clearly complains:
“Floods are flowing into houses when they should be flowing into weirs and dams..” He clearly makes reference to other governments failures to build dams for their mitigation value as well as storage. “..to mitigate against drought and reduce flood damage.” It’s there in black and white. Does he mean it or does he know the latter is unrealistic in broad flood plains like the Balonne-Condamine.
I then detailed current and recent projects that really simply demonstrate that dam and weir work IS being done…not an ‘unrelated issue’ to Barnaby’s canard at all. I have actually been trying to get into everyone’s heads the real volumes we are seeing particularly when Jen floated the headline ‘Nathan Dam would have mitigated Theodore flooding’, and Val cross links to some sloppy work by David Stockwell essentially accusing BOM of failing the Emerald community over modelling the flood peak.I know he’s in the midst of it,but he got his dates and volumes wrong.
I’ve seen this stuff from pollies looking for some easy yards during a crisis a million times before. Let’s cut to the chase and start detailing some proposals.
Oh Pikey – How many times has Copeton filled matey? You’d like to build a bigger one would you?
For fifteen years or more I have depended on rainwater tanks for my personal needs.
However, during the rest of my life, and during travels, all my water needs have been met by dams. The fact that one dam, existing or projected, may be more useful than another, is hardly surprising.
As a means of supplying fresh water, dams are so superior to the alternatives that even the most zombified Green is unable to contemplate the wholesale implementation of those alternatives. Instead, we are pointed to uncertainties and limitations – real or confected – to reinforce the now general timidity towards land and resource development. The hope is that we will lose sight of the matchless functionality of dams even while we continue to rely on them for our very existence.
On the subject of climate facts and factoids:
In my region, BOM’s record maxima for all months but one occurred between 1910 and 1919. The exception was August, which achieved its record maximum in 1946. This indicates very little to me…but I’m a grown-up.
The problem at Emerald was that the Fairfield dam was built on the cheap without control gates like the Wivenhoe and Somerset Dams have. The gates on the Wivenhoe are currently controlling the flow whereas the Somerset gates are closed and water is diverted to the Wivenhoe.
The mayor of Rockhampton told 2GB yesterday that it was all perfectly normal as the river floods regularly and the people are used to it. The worst flood at Rockhampton was in 1918 when the river peaked at 10.11m, then in 1954 it peaked at just over 9m. The current projection is that it will peak just over 9m tomorrow and be either less or equal to the 1954 flood.
http://www.bom.gov.au/hydro/flood/qld/brochures/fitzroy/fitzroy.shtml#PreviousFlooding
Luke,
During the climate cycle of the last 30 years or so many non-coastal dams like Copeton have performed at limited capacity. But when the big wets return, as they always do isn’t it great to have them? If we had twice as many we wouldn’t have enough.
Think of the SLR we would prevent!
And cop this!
Not the warmist year according to UAH but I wouldn’t bet against Jimmy making the claim.
http://www.drroyspencer.com/2011/01/dec-2010-uah-global-temperature-update-0-18-deg-c/
Luke,
AAMOI, that shows a 0.06 per decade increase in warming since satellites began which is the same as for the last 13 decades for many of which there was no ACO2e fingerprint.
How much of that 0.06 is natural variation?
Spangled – Copeton would have filled only a few times in a century.
Spangled thanks for that link; the funniest post I’ve read about the warmest year is Do We Care if 2010 is the Warmist Year in History? Posted on December 25, 2010 by Ira Glickstein, PhD
The race at that time was between 1998 and 1934.
(quoting) According to the latest from NASA GISS (Goddard Institute for Space Studies), 2010 is shaping up to be “the warmest of 131 years”, based on global data from January through November. They compare it to 2005 “2nd warmest of 131 years” and 1998 “5th warmest of 131 years”.
We won’t know until the December data is in. Even then, given the level of noise in the base data and the wiggle room in the analysis, each of which is about the same magnitude as the Global Warming they are trying to quantify, we may not know for several years. If ever. GISS seems to analyze the data for decades, if necessary, to get the right answer.
A case in point is the still ongoing race between 1934 and 1998 to be the hottest for US annual mean temperature…”
Dr Glickstein then went through the adjustments to 1934/1998 and has a delightful graph showing 1998 on a ski lift and 1934 on a downhill run’
(and after all that exercise by 1934 and 1998 her conclusion)
OOPS, the hot race continued after the FOIA email! I checked the tabular data at GISS Contiguous 48 U.S. Surface Air Temperature Anomaly (C) today and, guess what? Since the Sato FOIA email discussed above, GISS has continued their taxpayer-funded work on both 1998 and 1934. The Annual Mean for 1998 has increased to 1.32ºC, a gain of a bit over an 11th of a degree (+0.094ºC), while poor old 1934 has been beaten down to 1.2ºC., a loss of about a 20th of a degree (-0.049ºC). So, sad to say, 1934 has lost the hot race by about an eighth of a degree (0.12ºC). Tough loss for the old-timer.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/12/25/do-we-care-if-2010-is-the-warmist-year-in-history/
The other interesting post I’ve read is
2010 – where does it fit in the warmest year list?
Posted on December 28, 2010 by Don J. Easterbrook
(selectively quoting)
Regardless of which year wins the temperature adjustment battle, how significant will that be? To answer that question, we need to look at a much longer time frame‒centuries and millennia….
So where do the 1934/1998/2010 warm years rank in the long-term list of warm years? Of the past 10,500 years, 9,100 were warmer than 1934/1998/2010. Thus, regardless of which year ( 1934, 1998, or 2010) turns out to be the warmest of the past century, that year will rank number 9,099 in the long-term list.
The climate has been warming slowly since the Little Ice Age (Fig. 5), but it has quite a ways to go yet before reaching the temperature levels that persisted for nearly all of the past 10,500 years.
It’s really much to do about nothing.
sorry link to the second article above
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/12/28/2010%e2%80%94where-does-it-fit-in-the-warmest-year-list/#more-30425
The Fitzroy River peaked at about 13,250 cumecs up from Rockhampton yesterday. The total volume passing the gauge at The Gap was close to 1138 GL for the 24hr til midnight last night.
That’s close to one Wivenhoe [minus flood capacity] in one day. About 5741GL went past for the week to midnight 3/1/11,nearly five Wivenhoes.
Luke,
You Drongo;
Even us old blokes here at the Home know that Copeton has only being storing water for 33 years and during that time has been over the top several times.
Poly,
Your flow figures surely put paid to any further suggestions that we can mitigate floods with a dam or two.
This has never been possible.
Pikey.
Pikey.
Pikey do tell when it has overflowed.
Pikey,tell Barnaby,not me.
Tony’s next instalment from Rockhampton
http://papundits.wordpress.com/2011/01/04/rockhampton-flood-crisis-city-isolated/
Am short of time at present but I look forward to a good long chat, with a port or two, with Pikey on how to operate multiple private sector off-stream storages for less than the cost of large public sector in-stream storages. You forgot the use of weirs and diversion walls to raise water levels so they will flow into cascading off-stream storages like annabranches do all the time.