Sunwater defends Qld dam release

Queensland dam operator Sunwater has defended its handling of the Callide Dam during Cyclone Marcia.

Sunwater says the dam level rose seven metres in three hours during a "one-in-10,000-year" rainfall event on Friday night.

The intense downpour caused by the cyclone raised the dam's capacity to 90 per cent, triggering the automatic floodgates to open.

A two-metre high wall of water then broke the banks of Callide Creek and swept through Biloela, Jambin, Goovigen and other towns - destroying homes and businesses, killing livestock and flattening crops.

Many locals are upset because the Sunwater didn't release water before the storm hit and there was a lack of warning before the dam gates opened.

But Sunwater says the Callide Dam is for water storage, not flood mitigation, and is designed to divert or release excess water once it reaches capacity.

"It is designed to fill up and then pass floodwaters through," a spokeswoman told AAP.

The company said it was otherwise unable to release water without extensive consultation of its water customers and local communities.

Sunwater said even if staff had been given the go ahead to manually release water, rapidly-changing cyclonic conditions made it impossible for them to safely access the dam site.

The company also said it had immediately advised the Local Disaster Management Group and downstream residents when it became clear that water releases were likely.

"The warning time was short due to the unpredictability of the severe weather event which produced very intense rainfall in the upstream catchment," Sunwater said in a statement.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced a review of dam operations.

Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg has supported the review, which he hopes will advise on how to avoid similar releases in future.

Sunwater says it will fully co-operate with the review.