Journal article
A Legacy of Brisbane’s Benchmark Floods of 1893: Creating Dam Dependence
Arcadia, Vol.Spring 2017(9)
2017
Abstract
The 1893 Brisbane floods mark the first time when major flooding affected colonial settlement in southeast Queensland, Australia. Subtropical Queensland has episodic climatic conditions of flood and drought. Despite this, settlers developed the floodplains with catastrophic effect in 1893, as floods crippled an already devastated economy. The response reflects typical nineteenth-century solutions-structural engineering to control nature. Dam construction addressed socio-political imperatives and provided flood management and water storage. This encouraged development of the floodplain without regulation, increasing urban vulnerability. The course was set for dependency on dams to ensure human progress.
Details
- Title
- A Legacy of Brisbane’s Benchmark Floods of 1893: Creating Dam Dependence
- Authors
- Margaret Helen Cook (Author) - University of Queensland
- Publication details
- Arcadia, Vol.Spring 2017(9)
- Publisher
- Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society
- Date published
- 2017
- DOI
- 10.5282/rcc/7870
- ISSN
- 2199-3408
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2017 Margaret Cook. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Social Sciences - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Society; Sustainability Research Cluster
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99450983402621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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