Northern Victoria Region
Rikkie-Lee TYRRELL (Northern Victoria) (12:48): (428) My constituency question today is for the Minister for Water and comes from concerned residents who live downstream of dam walls and floodgates. Noting the ongoing flood inquiries and the mitigation strategies likely to eventuate from these, 12 months on my constituents are worried that not enough short-term preparation has been done to prepare for this spring’s projected rainfall. This week we have current flood warnings across most of Northern Victoria Region at a time when dams are collectively sitting at around 97 per cent capacity. With such full dams, coupled with the soaked ground’s inability to absorb additional dam releases, why weren’t controlled water releases conducted in the previous few weeks leading up to spring?