An audit of how the Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water collects and uses information from dam owners to manage safety risks has found it not to be fully effective.
As a result, Audit Report 9: 2021–22 Regulating dam safety recommended the Department collect and store more accurate information on the level of non-compliance by dam owners and then act on that non-compliance, using the full range of enforcement measures at its disposal.
Auditor-General, Brendan Worrall said the Department had processes for the collection of information for legislated dam safety requirements, however, it was not effectively placing that information on its Dam Safety Upgrade Schedule.
“The Schedule gives owners targets to upgrade dam spillways based on their capacity to safely release floodwaters,” Mr Worrall said.
“The Department is not effectively monitoring progress to ensure all the upgrades will be completed by the 2025 and/or 2035 deadlines,” he said.
Mr Worrall said eight spillways must be upgraded by 2025 and 30 by 2035, with total costs estimated at $3.1 billion.
He found the Department used spreadsheets to monitor compliance, but the individual spreadsheets were not up to date, complete or accurate.
“This makes it difficult for the Department to track whether dam owners are conducting and providing key reports on dam safety inspections on time,” the Auditor-General said.
“The Department relies almost exclusively on encouraging voluntary compliance to dam safety conditions and is reluctant to use the full range of enforcement options available.”
He said the Department was not ensuring all owners complied quickly enough with all the legislated reporting requirements when it identified non-compliance with dam safety conditions.
The Auditor-General’s 39-page Report can be accessed at this PS News link.
