LENTHALLS DAM Hervey Bay (Queensland) , WIDE BAY WATER CORPORATION, Hervey Bay Queensland (A Local Government Owned Corporation & Local Government  Water Authority) AUTOMATED CREST GATES FAILURE 2008 – A CASE STUDY IN GATE RELIABILITY AND HUMAN FACTORS, FAILURE TO IMPLIMENT RISK MANAGEMENT PROCEDURE. Wide Bay Water Corporation's Lenthalls Dam also refered to as Lake Lenthalls (also know as Lenthals Dam), is located 36km west south west of the city of Hervey Bay and it is situated to the west of the Bruce Highway. Lake Lenthall (Lenthalls Dam) is the primary drinking water supply for the city of Hervey Bay and residents of the Fraser Coast such as Toogum, Howard, Torbanlea. Lenthals Dam is owned and operated by Wide Bay Water Corporation Hervey Bay Queensland, a local government water authority. Wide Bay Water supply water & waste water services. Tim Waldron is the Chief Executive Officer of Wide Bay Water Corporation. The automated Crest gates were installed in 2007 and failed to operate as designed from January 2008. In February 2008 high rainfall led to a moderate flood, and all dam gates failed and were inoperable.  The gates were designed by Flowgate Projects South Africa, Fluid Dynamic Systems. In this incident, manual operation of the gates did not occur, it is believed the mechanism was not operable. The operating authority failed to implement the Emergency Action Plan and failed to evacuate flood impacted upstream sites. Three persons were put at risk due to upstream flooding. Had the flooding been more prolonged or severe the persons trapped faced injury or death. Australia has a strong reputation with respect Dam Safety and Incident management, this near fatal incident offers an opportunity to review and amend existing Dam Safety Requirements, Risk Management and Dam Gate Reliability Criteria. This incident provides an opportunity to review all current guidelines and enhance Dam Safety standards with emphasis on the importance of mitigating human failure and ensuring public safety. For the Lenthalls Dam Gates Failure research paper and the GHD (Gutteridge Haskins & Davies) Blank Emergency Action Plan for Wide Bay Water Corporation, please refer to the links below. (requires Adobe Reader) Click here to read the report and click here to view the GHD (Gutteridge Haskins & Davies) Blank Emergency Action Plan for Wide Bay Water Corporation Hervey Bay   Click here to read an extract of the GHD (Gutteridge Haskins & Davies) Wide Bay Water Corporation DRAFT Operation Manual, the Chief Executive Officers Responsibility (CEO Tim Waldron). Complete Version of a Dam Safety Emergency Plan Letter to the Minister for Emergency Services Further Reading For further reading please refer to http://rogercurrie.wordpress.com/wongi-waterholes-june-innundation/ For futher reading please refer to http:// rogercurrie.wordpress.com/2008/06/14/wongi-and-the-gates-of-hell/ - 35k For further reading please refer to http://rogercurrie.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/report1.pdf (Wide Bay Water Corporation Contravention Section 813 (1) Queensland Water Resources Act 2000.http://rogercurrie.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/report1.pdf http://rogercurrie.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/report1.pdf