Guards assigned to Qld dam engineers

Two Wivenhoe dam engineers who were grilled over their role in last year's Brisbane floods are being guarded while on special leave, following reports of death threats.

John Tibaldi and Terry Malone are two of the four SEQWater engineers who have fronted Queensland's flood inquiry over accusations they mismanaged Wivenhoe Dam during last January's floods that hit Brisbane, Ipswich and surrounds.

During the inquiry, SEQWater engineers have been accused of colluding to cover up botched water releases.

Premier Anna Bligh's office issued a statement late on Tuesday saying security guards had been assigned to Mr Tibaldi and Mr Malone, who have been granted special leave from their roles, after media reports the men have received death threats.

"Police were unable to verify the threat but recommended that security be provided for the employees as a precaution," Ms Bligh said.

She said private security guards and Queensland Government Security officers had been called upon to meet SEQWater's request to secure a "number of properties."

Mr Tibaldi, the lead author of a report that was branded a fiction at the inquiry, went on leave on Friday after finishing his testimony.

Mr Malone, who testified on Sunday that no contemporary records of water releases were kept during last year's flood - in breach of dam manual requirements - followed suit on Monday.

A March 2011 report written by the flood engineers says they leaped from strategy W1, which prioritises rural communities, to strategy W3, which focuses on preventing urban flooding, on January 8.

It has since been revealed an email sent by a senior water manager to Ms Bligh's then department director-general, Ken Smith, contradicted this.

The floods commission of inquiry is holding extra hearings in Brisbane to investigate allegations the engineers botched water releases from Wivenhoe, caused unnecessary flooding, and then misled the inquiry over what water release strategies were used.

SEQWater said reports that its engineers had received death threats were not correct.

The water authority said it was providing around-the-clock security to its engineers as a precaution based on advice from police.

Police were responding to claims from a media outlet about death threats to the engineers, Seqwater said in a statement late Tuesday.

"Police were unable to verify the threat but recommended that security be provided for the employees as a precaution," the statement said.