Brisbane Breached
The Story of a Drought Defaulted Floodplain
David Topp
Paperback, 228 pages, $39.95
ISBN 9781922815781
Feb 2024 Release
David Topp succinctly explains how a city built on a flood plain will never be flood free. - Peter Spearritt: Emeritus Professor of History, The University of Queensland. Brisbane Breached: The Story of a Drought Defaulted Floodplain delves into the intricate historical chronicles of Brisbane, meticulously exploring the city’s enduring struggle against the dual forces of severe flooding and prolonged droughts. The narrative unfolds, juxtaposing the recurrent major flood events between 1841 and 2022 with intermittent, yet impactful, periods of drought. Such occurrences, inherently linked to Brisbane’s geographical position constructed within a flood plain, present profound policy challenges that have persisted over time. In dissecting the prevailing beliefs in the efficacy of dam constructions as a panacea for Brisbane’s water-related vulnerabilities, this book confronts the prevailing misconceptions. The inadequacies of solely relying on dam infrastructure become apparent in the face of the city’s unique topographical limitations, prompting a necessary paradigm shift in policy considerations. Foreseeing an imminent population surge, projected to add one million residents by 2032, this book’s discourse posits the urgency of transcending traditional water management strategies. This paradigmatic shift becomes a pivotal policy proposition to avert the existential threat of complete water depletion in a city susceptible to both drought and flooding. David Topp is a Queensland Barrister. His previous book Tennyson Breach was published in 2012.
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