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NEXT FMA MEETINGS: COMBINED QLD + NSW/ACT MEETING 26 AUGUST, ONLINE
A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
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We have recently seen news and graphic pictures of the catastrophic floods in Germany on our TV screens. However, it’s not only Germany suffering from these floods.
Since 12 July several European countries have been affected by massive floods, causing deaths and widespread damage.
These floods impacted the United Kingdom, and later northern and central Europe including Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Italy.
More than 217 people have died in the floods, including 177 in Germany, 37 in Belgium, one in Italy, one in Austria, and one in Romania, with many more people missing.
The floods are estimated to have cost up to €2.55 billion (AU$4 billion) in insured losses, with the total damage costs being much higher.
By 2100, annual flood damage on the continent could cost as much as €48 billion - up from €7.8 billion now. If nothing more is done to prepare the number of people affected could more than double to some 350,000, according to the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre.
Dutch policies aimed at making “room for the river” have widened and deepened river channels, and set aside land where floodwaters can spread out. Those measures were projected to reduce flood peaks by as much as one metre, according to the Deltares Research Institute. Once again the Dutch are leading the way in pro-active floodplain management.
In Australia, the total economic cost of natural disasters exceeded $9 billion in 2015, or about 0.6% of gross domestic product. This year floods in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley are estimated to have caused $2 billion in damage. According to Deloitte Access Economics, the total costs of disasters in Australia will rise to an average of $33 billion per year by 2050 unless steps are taken
to increase resilience.
FMA has long advocated the need for mitigation measures, wise land use planning, emergency response initiatives, data sharing and community resilience programs.
As we heard from Federal Minister Littleproud at our National Conference this year, the creation of a new National Recovery and Resilience Agency is a step in the right direction, and we welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement of a $600 million investment in a new program of disaster preparation and mitigation to be managed by the Agency.
I can sum it up in the words of Michael Douglas in the movie The American President – “We have serious problems to solve and we need serious people to solve them”.
ID
Ian Dinham | FMA President
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AUGUST FMA MEETING ARRANGEMENTS
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Quarterly Meeting: Due to the rapidly changing meeting and travel restrictions, the Quarterly Meetings and Workshops planned for Brisbane and Sydney will now be held online on Thursday 26 August. Unfortunately we are now unable to have any in-person participation in Sydney.
Workshops: Not one, but two concurrent Land Use Planning Workshops!
Road Map to Risk Based Land Use Planning in Queensland
The New NSW Flood-prone Land Package
Queensland Networking Event: A casual networking event is being developed for Brisbane after the Online Workshop.
More details soon, but please reserve Thursday 26 August in your calendar now.
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HAROLD STERNBECK MEDAL AND YFM OUTSTANDING PRESENTER AWARD
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We are delighted to announce the 2021 winners of the Harold Sternbeck Medal and YFM Outstanding Presenter Award for the 2021 FMA Online National Conference.
The Harold Sternbeck Medal competition for best presentation overall at the FMA Annual Conference has been an FMA Conference tradition for many years. In 2021, in addition to the Harold Sternbeck Medal, we are excited to introduce the inaugural Young Floodplain Manager (YFM) Outstanding Presenter Award.
The winner of the 2021 Harold Sternbeck Medal is:
- Prawi Woods (Catchment Simulation Solutions) — Rehydrating the Floodplain to Save the Endangered Green and Golden Bell Frog. Prawi is also a Young Floodplain
Manager.
The winner of the 2021 Harold Sternbeck Highly Commended Award is:
- Claire Turrell (NSW Department of Planning Industry and Environment) — Aboriginal Storytelling of Flooding in the Hunter Valley Catchment, NSW.
The winner of the inaugural 2021 Young Floodplain Manager Outstanding Presenter Award is:
- Prawi Woods (Catchment Simulation Solutions) — Rehydrating the Floodplain to Save the Endangered Green and Golden Bell Frog
The inaugural 2021 Young Floodplain Manager Highly Commended Presenter Awards go to:
- Catherine Walker (Water Modelling Solutions (previously Cardno)) — Could School Flood Education Be the Catalyst for Advancing Women in STEM?
- Filippo Dall'Osso (Molino Stewart) — A Review of Australian Models to Predict Direct Tangible Flood Damages: Do We Need Better Tools?
A big congratulations to Prawi Woods, a Young Floodplain Manager, whose presentation was ranked best overall at the Conference and so qualifies for both awards in 2021. Double congratulations to Prawi for such an outstanding effort.
These two prestigious competitions are held at the FMA Annual Conference to encourage excellence across all aspects of a Conference presentation. Both 10 minute and 20 minute presentations are included. This year there were a total of 67 presentations.
The Harold Sternbeck Medal is awarded in recognition of Harold Sternbeck's contribution to the FMA. Harold was a former Chairman of FMA and FMA’s first Life Member. He was a fierce negotiator on all things flood related, especially the politics of funding allocations.
The FMA Young Floodplain Managers (YFM) network exists to represent, engage, and inspire young floodplain management professionals across Australia to share new ideas and engage in industry discussions. The YFM Network facilitates collaboration and the sharing of knowledge through networking opportunities, mentorships with industry leaders, professional development workshops and events,
and social media platforms and forums where YFMs can discuss key issues and share innovative ideas.
In addition to the formal awards, we would also like to congratulate the following presenters, who were also ranked very highly by the judges (in alphabetical order by name):
- Ed Henty (Dryside Engineering) — Flood Mitigation Infrastructure Landowner Consultation – Engineers Can Do the Talking.
- Jo Kegg (Victoria State Emergency Service) — How an App is Helping to Gather Local Flood Information and Intelligence.
- Karen McPaul (Queensland Reconstruction Authority) — Ten Years on from the 2011 Floods: Is Queensland More Flood Resilient?
- Juliette Murphy (FloodMapp) — Real-time Flood Models Coupled with WAZE for Live Road Closures and Traffic Routing.
- Alicia Palmer (Townsville City Council) — Community Recovery on the Floodplain – The Townsville Resilience Collective.
Once again congratulations to our winners for the great contributions they have made to the success of the 2021 FMA National Conference.
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NATURAL HAZARDS RESEARCH AUSTRALIA COMMENCES OPERATION
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On 1 July, Natural Hazards Research Australia commenced operation, taking on the activities of the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (CRC).
In a joint media release with Minister for the Emergency Management David Littleproud, the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Christian Porter said the Australian Government is providing $85 million to fund ten years of natural hazards research through the establishment of Natural Hazards Research Australia.
Minister Littleproud said that the Centre will tackle different aspects of critical natural hazards research and develop solutions that are multidisciplinary. “We need research that translates into action to meet contemporary challenges faced by emergency services and communities across Australia,” Minister Littleproud said.
“Floods, cyclones and bushfires are a natural part of the Australian landscape, so it’s crucial that we continue to strengthen our resilience and response efforts to ensure the impact on lives, communities and the environment is minimised,” he said.
The new centre has three overarching objectives:
- The protection of human life, minimised harm and suffering – towards zero preventable deaths
- Well-prepared and resilient communities:
- communities better informed of the risks associated with an event and able to make informed decisions if faced with potential disaster
- research that maintains community trust and confidence
- communities better understanding the cost effectiveness of mitigation strategies
- Research that translates into action
- utilisation opportunities in data management, emerging technology and research.
Natural Hazards Research Australia CEO, Dr Richard Thornton, said NHRA ”will focus on natural hazard resilience and disaster risk reduction and will address the major challenges arising from bushfires, storms, floods, heatwaves, earthquakes, cyclones and other hazards, including recent events such as the 2019-20 bushfire
season.”
For more information see: https://www.bnhcrc.com.au/about/natural-hazards-research-australia
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NSW DESIGN AND PLACE SEPP
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As outlined by Land Use Planning Director Paul Grech at the May FMA Meeting, the NSW Government Architect and the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) are preparing a new Design and Place State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP).
FMA’s Submission on the exhibited Explanation of Intended Effect for the SEPP advocated the early consideration of flood risk management issues in the design process, and aligning the relevant principles and guidance to be provided by the SEPP with the soon to be released draft updated NSW
Floodplain Development Manual. Mr Grech represents FMA on the Stakeholders Working Group and has attended two sessions to date.
DPIE has published a submissions report which provides a
summation of issues raised, and recognises FMA as one of the Peak Body contributors. A total of 337 submissions were received, of which 23 were from Peak Body groups. There is no specific discussion of flood risk management issues in this document, with such matters intended to be addressed under the umbrella of sustainability considerations.
Before being finalised the Draft SEPP is to be exhibited for at least six weeks in late 2021. Mr Grech continues to be involved in Stakeholder Workshops and will report back to FMA Members as relevant.
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NATIONAL RESILIENCE AND RECOVERY AGENCY NOW OPERATIONAL
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The National Resilience and Recovery Agency (NRRA), launched by the Australian Government in May, is now operational.
The Agency combines expertise in natural disaster response, recovery and resilience, working with affected communities and all levels of government and industry.
The Agency brings together the National Drought and North Queensland Flood Response and Recovery Agency and National Bushfire Recovery Agency. It incorporates the disaster risk reduction and recovery functions from Department of Home Affairs, and takes on responsibility for management of the Rural Financial Counselling Program from the Department of Agriculture, Water and the
Environment.
The Agency sits in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet portfolio, and is led by Coordinator-General the Hon Shane Stone AC QC.
For more information see: https://recovery.gov.au
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NEW CLIMATE SERVICE GOES LIVE
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Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley has officially launched operations for the Australian Climate Service. The Service is coordinated by the Bureau of Meteorology, and will support Emergency Management Australia and the Australian Government's new National Recovery and Resilience
Agency.
“It will help Australia to better anticipate, manage and adapt to climate impacts by bringing together climate, natural hazard, geospatial and socioeconomic information into one connected platform”, Ms Ley said.
“The customer-driven service brings together the expertise of the Bureau, Geoscience Australia, CSIRO and the Australian Bureau of Statistics.”
Information about the Australian Climate Service is available at: https://www.acs.gov.au/
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FLOODWATERS RETURN LIFE TO MENINDEE LAKES
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DISASTER CONFERENCE POSTPONED
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Given the current COVID-19 situation in NSW and restrictions on interstate travel, the Australian Disaster Resilience Conference has been postponed to 6-7 October 2021. The National Recovery Forum is postponed until 8 October.
More information can be found at www.aidr.org.au .
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This past month, two Queensland YFM webinar recordings have been made available in the Members' Section of floods.org.au:
Don't Wait for the Next Flood: Three Lessons You'll Wish You'd Known
About: Dwayne Honor joined the QLD Chapter of YFM in April to discuss how his career progressed and some of his learnings throughout this time. He had some really interesting stories and fantastic advice for those of us who are at the start of our careers, including how valuable collaboration and engagement with the community can be and also around the importance of managing
our own stress in our careers.
Collaboration for Floodplain Management Success
About: Collaborating effectively with stakeholders, professionals, agencies and those with varying views is a skill learnt through practice and hard work! This is a skill which Ella Harrison and Graeme Milligan are no strangers to in their floodplain management careers. On the 25th February, the QLD YFM heard from these two highly regarded professionals on how collaboration
helped achieve floodplain management success and how we can foster collaboration early in our careers.
To access the webinars, you will need to have registered for the Members' Section of floods.org.au. If you need to organise login details, please contact Dominique Jovanovic. Access to the Members' Section is exclusively available to current FMA Members - for
information about joining FMA, please visit floods.org.au/membership.
For more on the YFM, head to floods.org.au/yfm.
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The FMA Flyer reaches a wide range of industry professionals from Australia and overseas, and if you have any recent projects or exciting news we would love to share it with our readers.
Send through details of your stories and we can include them in our upcoming issues by contacting [email protected].
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UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS
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TRAVELLING CAPS AND BEANIES
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Pictured: Executive Officer Glenn Evans amongst the golden leaves of Canberra, ACT in his FMA beanie.
Do you have an FMA Cap or Beanie photo you'd like to share with Flyer readers?
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