Dam safety exercise in Wangaratta leads to better emergency response
A recent exercise will ensure that emergency management agencies in north eastern Victoria respond in unison and according to best practice in the unlikely event of a dam safety emergency.
Fifty representatives from 16 emergency management agencies recently took part in a simulated dam safety emergency tabletop exercise in Wangaratta, run by Goulburn-Murray Water, to test the emergency response procedures and form important relationships between key agencies.
Goulburn-Murray Water's Manager Dam Emergency Systems, Andrew Evans, said this was the first multi‑agency dam safety emergency exercise for Goulburn-Murray Water and follows an intensive series of internal exercises on its dams.
""At Goulburn-Murray Water , we run exercises like these regularly to make sure we are well-practised at various scenarios and ready to respond at any time to protect the community should such an unlikely event occur,"" Mr Evans said.
""However, this is the first time we've held an exercise on this scale and incorporated other emergency response agencies.
""Pleasingly, the participants all banded together and responded to the scenarios very well.""
The exercise was designed by consultants Michael Cawood and Associates and GHD in conjunction with Goulburn-Murray Water and was facilitated by Goulburn-Murray Water's Shane McGrath, using a Geoffrey Robertson ""Hypotheticals"" format to present the various incidents.
A debrief held after the exercise was also used to record all suggested improvements to the procedures, to ensure they are continually improved.
""Goulburn-Murray Water's dams are very safe and the likelihood of a dam emergency is very small, but it is important that we are well prepared to respond immediately to such an event should one occur,"" Mr Evans said.
""This type of exercise is extremely valuable for improving our networks so that if a real emergency occurs, important relationships have already been formed between the key agencies.""
