Detention Basin Emergency Action Plans

Yes, Council undertakes regular monitoring of the detention basin and carries out maintenance to ensure it is structurally sound. This is part of Council's legislative responsibility as a dam owner.

The Hazard Zone illustrates the potentially affected high-risk areas in the unlikely event of a dam-related emergency of the Moody or McKinnon Creek Detention Basins.

A dam-related emergency can occur for a range of reasons, such as water flowing over the top of the dam embankment during heavy rain, structural or engineering problems, damage to the embankment, or failure of key components like spillways. Any of these issues can lead to an uncontrolled release of water downstream.

Potential impacts include damage to property, people and/or the environment caused by flood water inundation.

Residents will be alerted to take suitable actions to prepare for, and respond to, a potential or actual emergency including to evacuate to higher ground when a dam-related emergency is imminent or has occurred. On receiving this notification, the safest thing to do is to take immediate action and if required, move to higher ground away from the Hazard Zone.

Various methods of communication are used to disseminate this information including email, website, mobile phone messagine and social media platforms e.g., Facebook. The primary platform for public notification is the Cairns Disaster Dashboard. This dashboard provides existing local contact and content including information about weather, safe locations, key road closures, and predicted impacts on critical infrastructure and services.