Dam Safety
A referable dam is one that would, in the event of failure, put population at risk. This is determined by conducting a failure impact assessment. Such a dam is assigned a Category 1 or Category 2 failure impact rating, and is considered 'referable' under the provisions of the Water Act 2000.
Dams that have not already been assessed as having a Category 2 failure impact rating must be assessed every five years if they are more than eight metres high and have:
- a storage capacity of more than 500 megalitres; or
- a storage capacity of more than 250 megalitres and a catchment area more than three times the maximum surface area of the dam at full supply level.
If there is no population at risk, a dam is not referable and is not subject to the referable dam provisions of the Water Act 2000.
Development permits are required for all new referable dams and for all modifications to existing referable dams to increase the storage capacity by more than 10%.
Development permit applications must be made on forms prepared and submitted in accordance with the requirements of the IDAS (Integrated Development Assessment System) process of the Integrated Planning Act.
Dams deemed by Regulation
Sections 1067 and 1068 of the Water Act 2000 provide for the setting of failure impact ratings for existing licenced and unlicenced dams by Regulation.
Under these provisions, the Water Regulation 2002 (PDF)* was used to set the failure impact ratings for 46 existing dams.
See Schedule 12 (p.131) for a list of these dams, and their ownership and location details.
Further information
- IDAS referable dam forms for development applications for constructing referable dams
- Referable dams guidelines
- Dam safety authorised officers factsheet: (PDF, 167K)* details their functions, powers and responsibilities
- Australian National Committee on Large Dams Incorporated (ANCOLD) for access to industry guidelines and other dam information
- Department of Emergency Services
* Requires Acrobat Reader
Last updated: 17 September 2009