Our dams

Biggera Creek Dam is a flood mitigation dam designed to protect people and property downstream during rain events. It is the largest dam we manage.

The dam's storage basin includes low lying areas north and south of Napper Road, including the Parkwood Golf Course. It is usually empty, providing capacity for the dam to hold excess water during flood events.

How the dam reduces flooding

An outlet pipe under the dam wall allows Biggera Creek to flow naturally downstream when it rains. Because the water flow is limited by the size of the pipe, excess water starts to fill the dam during heavy rain.

This helps reduce downstream flash flooding which could otherwise put lives and property at risk.

During major rain events, excess runoff is designed to overflow the dam's spillway. This happens when the water level goes over the spillway crest at 12.5m. However, water hasn't gone over the spillway since the dam was built. The highest recorded water level was 12.24m in June 2005.

The spillway of the dam is uncontrolled, which means there are no gates to control/limit the release of flood waters.

Dam upgrade

In 2023 the City completed remediation works to Biggera Creek Dam's outlet and downstream embankment slope following a detailed engineering review and risk assessment by a specialist dam consultant.

Loders Creek Dam is a flood mitigation dam designed to protect people and property downstream during rain events.

The Gold Coast Light Rail runs across part of the embankment.

The storage basin includes low lying areas of Southport Reserve, north of Southport Nerang Road between Bailey Crescent and Edmund Rice Drive.

How the dam reduces flooding

An outlet pipe under the dam wall allows Loders Creek to flow naturally downstream when it rains. Because the water flow is limited by the size of the pipe, excess water starts to fill the dam during heavy rain.

This helps reduce downstream flash flooding which could otherwise put lives and property at risk.

In major rain events, excess runoff may also overflow the dam's spillway. This happens when the water level goes over the spillway crest at 11.89m. The highest recorded water level was 12.32m in January 2020. The spillway of the dam has no gates to limit the release of flood waters.

The dam was one of the Gold Coast's earliest water supply sources but it was decommissioned after other water supply dams were built. The dam has been used for recreation and as an emergency water supply for rural fire fighting since the 1970s.

Water flows into Tallebudgera Creek Dam from the surrounding catchment, which is 33km2 and encompasses Upper Tallebudgera to the NSW border.

Does the dam reduce flooding?

Tallebudgera Creek dam was built as a water supply dam, not to mitigate flooding. The dam's water levels are usually at the spillway crest level which means the dam is full and has no flood mitigation capacity.

During rainfall events, excess runoff is designed to overflow the spillway. This happens when the water level surpasses the spillway crest at 42.24m.

The highest flood level recorded at the dam is 45.7m, recorded during a 2017 rain event. The spillway has no gates to limit the release of flood waters.

Dam upgrade

Tallebudgera Creek Dam was upgraded in 2007 to safely pass a 1 in 100,000 Annual Exceedance Probability flood without failure and to satisfy the dam safety guidelines and requirements. The upgrade included raising the height of the earth embankment and adding concrete reinforcement.