The 2024 Floodplain Management Australia National Conference will be held at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre from 21 – 24 May.

The Conference has been held annually for over 60 years and is the most respected flood risk management event held in Australia, and it’s not just for technical people. Mayors and Councillors will particularly benefit from the case studies of recent flood events. This is a great opportunity to learn what happened, what worked, what didn’t work, and how to plan better for the next flood.

The theme of the Conference is Floods in a Changing Climate, which will focus on keeping flood risk management a high priority when seasonal forecasts are for below average rainfall, and flooding patterns change as the climate warms. 

The Conference program involving 90 presentations in up to four specialised streams is being finalised, and will be available very soon.

Details are at: floodplainconference.com

Nominations for the 2024 FMA Excellence Awards will be closing in three weeks!

The FMA Excellence Awards are the highlight of our National Conference each year, and they offer the invaluable opportunity to showcase the incredible work professionals in the field of flood risk management have undertaken in the past 12 months.

If you are a current FMA Member or belong to an FMA Member organisation, we encourage you to nominate your hardworking colleagues (or yourself) for the following Awards:

FMA-IAG Flood Risk Management Project of the Year Award

FMA-Allan Ezzy Flood Risk Manager of the Year Award

FMA-IAG Young Floodplain Manager of the Year Award

Information and Nomination Forms are available at floods.asn.au/ea.

Severe weather and flooding associated with ex-Tropical Cyclone Kirrily kept many colleagues from the Queensland Chapter Quarterly Meeting in February, however those who were able to attend approved of the new afternoon format for our Meeting and Cyclone Season Workshop - particularly those on site who participated in the end of day networking. Thank you to Federico Groppa and AECOM for again hosting us at their spacious board room.

For Sydney FMA Meeting attendees it was a welcome return to meeting room of the Bureau of Meteorology, after four years. Thank you Ailsa Schofield for all your organising.

After a morning of informative updates we welcomed Emma Whale and Elizabeth Fryer from the NSW Reconstruction Authority for a comprehensive information session on the roles and activities of their organisation, the State Disaster Mitigation Plan and Disaster Adaptation Plans.

The Reconstruction Authority has wide ranging responsibilities, with four key disaster functions:

• Mitigation and adaptation
• Local preparedness
• Community centred recovery
• Long term rebuilding and reconstruction.

We look forward to regular updates on progress of these activities at future Quarterly Meetings.

The Bureau of Meteorology has released its annual Climate Statement for 2023, summarising the year as “Warmer with contrasting rainfall between the north and south”.

Australia's national mean temperature was 0.98 °C warmer than the 1961–1990 average. It was the country's equal eighth-warmest year since temperature records began and warmest since 2020. 

Nationally, the area-average annual rainfall total for Australia was 473.70 mm, 1.6% above the 1961–1990 average of 466.0 mm.

It was a year of contrasts however. Much of northern Australia experienced above average rainfall, while parts of eastern, southern and western parts of the country received below average rainfall.

The Statement says the main climate influences active during 2023 were La Niña, which weakened and dissipated through summer 2022–23, El Niño and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole which were established in early Spring. The presence of a positive Southern Annular Mode combined with high temperatures in the Tasman Sea likely contributed to above average rainfall across eastern Australia in December.

For the summary video and full analysis visit the Bureau's website: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/annual/aus/2023/#:~:text=Australia's%20climate%20in%202023&text=Both%20the%20mean%20annual%20maximum,second%20half%20of%20the%20year.

FMA would like to welcome two new Associate Members to our network of flood risk professionals:

Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (Western Australia)

The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) in Western Australia is a State Government agency responsible for providing floodplain mapping and floodplain management advice across Western Australia.

DWER uses data from past flood events and catchment modelling to understand flood behaviour and prepare floodplain mapping for the state's major rivers. This is used to guide future development on floodplains. It also assists government, industry, insurers and the community to prepare for, and respond to a flood emergency.

Learn more about DWER at dwer.wa.gov.au

Environment Canterbury Regional Council (New Zealand)

The Environment Canterbury Regional Council (ECRC) has a governing body of 16 councillors, and around 800 staff. ECRC works closely with the nine district councils and one city council within its region to manage flood risk.

Flooding is the most common natural hazard in the Canterbury region with river flooding, surface flooding, and coastal flooding all impacting the region. The Canterbury Regional Policy Statement (CRPS) sets out a hierarchy for dealing with natural hazards, with the order of priority being avoidance, then mitigation, and then response and recovery.

For more about ECRC, visit ecan.govt.nz

If you would like to join FMA’s ever-growing Membership, visit floods.asn.au/membership for more information. 

As we heard from NSW State Emergency Service’s Elle O’Shannessy at the Sydney FMA Quarterly Meeting, the Hazards Near Me NSW app has been given an update to include storm warnings. The app previously covered flood, tsunami and bushfire.

The app provides near real-time updates with warning levels, locations of incidents, and affected areas. You can set up to 10 Watch Zones, and receive alerts when incidents are reported in those areas.

Previous apps will need to be updated to receive the storm warnings. Details at: hazardsnear.me

The Planning Institute of Australia is offering an online course focussing on strategic risk-based land use planning for flood hazard.

The training programme is designed for planners and other professionals involved in strategic planning, developing and/or implementing land use and development policy in planning instruments. It will be delivered from Queensland by Shannon Haines, from City of Moreton Bay, and Jacquie Hannan, from BMT Global.

The course is provided in two half day workshops, on Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 March

Details are at:  planning.org.au/events/event/2024-planet-online-planning-for-flood-risk-management-two-half-day

FMA’s Flood Risk Management Short Course is being updated and will be offered in the second half of 2024.

On Wed 6th March, join YFM QLD for its first event of the year; an interactive webinar on the topic of talking to people affected by flooding. Learn from speakers in the community and public health sectors who have intimate dealings with persons affected by flooding, and gain an opportunity to virtually network with your industry peers.

The webinar will occur on Wednesday 6th March at noon AEST. Please register via this LinkedIn event so we can have an appreciation of numbers; note that, unlike past events, we have not created this event on the Eventbrite platform.

Remember to actively download a calendar reminder as this does not automatically happen with LinkedIn Events!

https://www.linkedin.com/events/talkingtothefloodimpacted7165144996503834624/