A flood operations model was built using GoldSim to help better understand and fine tune operations of large dams used for water supply and flood control of Wivenhoe and Somerset Dams in Queensland Australia. GoldSim was used to probabilistically simulate thousands of flood scenarios, which made it possible to compare different operating schemes under many possible conditions. The approach was found to be valuable in the process of understanding the capacity of the dams to mitigate floods while protecting water supplies. The studies identified shortcomings in the conventional design event approach to flood estimation. A broader range of stochastic floods provided an advantage to better assess flood mitigation performance and extreme floods, which is important for dam safety.

The comprehensive approach adopted for the Wivenhoe Somerset Dam Optimisation Study was found to be very useful to provide evidence based information to stakeholders to understand the implications of alternative flood operations. Numerous flood hydrographs generated from stochastically derived rainfall events were very useful in detecting potential changes in extreme flood levels. 

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Wivenhoe Somerset Dam Optimisation Study

Holistic Dam Operations Assessment for Southeast Queensland

Stochastic Simulation of Inflow Hydrographs for Wivenhoe and Somerset Dams