Community Driven Flood Risk Management Planning for Rural Toowoomba Townships

Abstract

Rod Betts1 Mark Page2 Blake Boulton3 Steven Molino4 1- Toowoomba Regional Council 2- Engeny Water Management 3- Water Modelling Solutions 4- Molino Stewart The ultimate success of any Floodplain Risk Management Plan (FRMP) depends on the suitability and applicability of the outcomes for the community for which it is written and the flood risks they are exposed to. Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) has recently undertaken a series of FRMPs for the townships of Yarraman, Cooyar, Crows Nest, Jondaryan, Quinalow, Maclagan and Oakey that showcase Australian leading best-practice application of community driven flood risk management planning. The FRMP project is part of TRC’s flood risk management journey that spans over four years and was recently awarded by Floodplain Management Australia (FMA) as the winner of the Flood Risk Management Project of the Year 2018. The towns were specifically identified as requiring FRMPs through studies undertaken after the significant January 2011 flood event. Initially, flood modelling for the townships was updated through the TRC Flood Studies Project. This modelling then informed the Flood Risk Assessment, Planning Evaluation and Planning Scheme Amendment (FRAPESA) Project in 2016 which, through a focus upon vulnerability and tolerability of the communities in addition to flood risk, identified the townships with high concern that required individual FRMPs. The adopted approach for the development of the FRMPs was consistent with industry best practice guidelines including the FMA’s Handbook 7 “Managing the Floodplain: a guide to best practice in flood risk management in Australia”. A multi-criteria assessment procedure was applied to potential floodplain risk management measures, comprising of property modification measures, response modification measures and flood behaviour modification measures. A long list of measures was considered for applicability to the floodplain, from which a short list was then further qualitatively and/or quantitatively assessed. The FRMPs build upon the previous FRAPESA outcomes and therefore were developed based on extensive community engagement and consideration of multiple factors including critical infrastructure, community isolation, community vulnerability, community tolerability, flood hazard, flood emergency response classification, emergency evacuation potential, flood damage assessment, cost benefit analysis and community expectations.