Susanna Freymark
A report four years in the making has been released by the CSIRO today, detailing how flood mitigation could make our communities safer after the 2022 disaster.
Federal MP Kevin Hogan said the Northern Rivers Resilience Initiative report models solutions such as dry holding ponds and opening up Boundary Creek to the ocean.
“The CSIRO report says the 2022 flood would have been over 2m lower with these mitigation solutions in place. The 2017 flood would have been 1.4m lower. In Lismore that means the levee would not have overtopped,” Mr Hogan said.
The Federal Government has already spent $11.4million on the NRRI. State and Federal governments have now committed a further $3million for a feasibility study on the report’s findings.
Read the full CSIRO report here.
Mr Hogan has pushed for flood mitigation measures since the 2022 floods.
“It’s not if we have another flood in our region, it’s when. The CSIRO has provided a solution to keep us safe. The State and Federal governments must act on this.”
The $3million will be used to assess the technical, environmental, economic and social feasibility of potential interventions.
Richmond Valley, Kyogle, Ballina and Lismore councils will oversee the study which will feed into the Northern Rivers Disaster Adaptation Plan led by the NSW Reconstruction Authority.
The National Emergency Management Agency and CSIRO will hold community drop-in sessions in July to discuss the findings and answer questions.
“When we reduce flood risk, businesses invest, insurance becomes affordable again, and families choose to stay and build their futures here. Flood mitigation is the foundation everything else in our community is built on,” Mr Hogan said.
What residents need to know is what mitigation measures will be done and will the governments adequately fund them?
The report stated that the impact of large floods can be reduced across the Richmond River catchment with strategically located water detentions and other flood mitigation measures tested in this study. Further investigation indicates that putting one or two additional detentions on Gradys Creek on the Casino/Kyogle side and Tuntable Creek upstream of Lismore may potentially further reduce the flood levels across the Richmond River catchment.
Federal Minister for Emergency Management Kristy McBain said the release of the report gives a scientific basis for understanding which flood mitigation measures could make the biggest difference and will help governments make better investment decisions.
Minister for Recovery Janelle Saffin said her reading of the report was that it gives the community real hope because it shows technically that flood levels can be lowered across all four local government areas in the Richmond River catchment.
“There is still a way to go, but we are moving forward. I look forward to working closely with the Australian Government, the four councils and our community as these scoping works shape up,” Ms Saffin said.