Bundaberg Flood Protection Study Developing a 10-Year Action Plan for Flood Mitigation in Bundaberg

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Bundaberg Flood Protection Study Developing a 10-Year Action Plan for Flood Mitigation in Bundaberg October 2016 – not Government policy Bundaberg flood protection study Developing a 10-year action plan for flood mitigation in Bundaberg. Option G – Elliot River diversion Option G involves construction of a diversion channel from the Burnett River into the Elliot River. Stage 2 of the Bundaberg flood protection study involves Costs and benefits assessing 11 flood mitigation options, including those Initial cost estimates indicate that construction and identified through consultation with the Bundaberg maintenance of Option G would be approximately community in late 2015. $9,000 million. This is mainly due to the volumes of The following provides an overview of the assessment of cut required (about 300,000,000 m3) to construct the Option G. channel. Costs would also include property purchase, bridge construction and ongoing vegetation management Viability and maintenance within the diversion channel. A key step in the options assessment involves identifying The estimated reduction in flood damages (i.e. the issues that may mean construction or implementation of tangible benefits) for this option is around $90 million. the option is not viable. These relate to matters such as: • The likelihood of obtaining environmental approvals, Summary of assessment against key criteria due to unacceptable environmental impacts • This option would reduce flow in the Burnett River and • Significant or unaffordable costs of construction or increase flow in the Elliot River. This would reduce ongoing maintenance flood levels in Bundaberg. • Potential for unacceptable impacts on other areas. • This option would reduce flooding for about 1 An option is considered to be unviable where the 3000 properties in the 1% AEP flood event and assessment identifies one or more of these matters are prevent over-floor flooding in 1450 properties in the ‘unlikely to be achieved’. 1% AEP flood event. The assessment of Option G found that this option is • This option would have significant costs (in the unviable as it would result in significant impacts along order of $9,000 million). These costs would be the route of the diversion and in the Elliot River and approximately 100 times the benefits realised through would cost of the order of $9,000 million, much more reduced damages. than the benefits delivered. • Increased flood flow in the Elliot River would result in increased flood levels (up to 8 m higher) and very high velocities for properties along this river. This would Likelihood of obtaining environmental approval impact about 60 houses along the Elliot River. Affordability • Environmental issues would arise from diverting very large flows into the Elliot River, which has a small Tolerable impacts outside benefited area catchment and small flows compared to the Burnett River (100 times smaller). Likely to achieve May achieve with modification Unlikely to achieve 1 1% AEP flood is the name given to a flood event which has a 1 in 100 or 1% chance of occurring in any year. It would be similar to the January 2013 flood. October 2016 – not Government policy Option overview Option G aims to decrease flow within the Burnett River by Construction of this option would require some property diverting floodwater into the Elliot River. It would involve acquisitions, including farmland. It would also require construction of a 15 km diversion channel about 760 m a number of new bridges to be constructed across the wide and 30 m deep from the Burnett River, just south of diversion channel, including along the Bruce Highway and Branyan, to the Elliot River. The diversion would fall about local roads. 9 m over the length of the channel. Options to divert the Burnett River to other rivers, such The diversion channel between the Burnett River and Elliot as the Gregory and Isis rivers, were considered but were River would need to traverse areas of high ground. The discounted due to these rivers being at higher elevation indicative alignment has been selected as it limits the than the Burnett River. volume of earthworks required as well as provides enough A diversion into the Kolan River was also considered and fall for the efficient flow of floodwater. would result in a similar performance, costs and impacts as the Elliot River diversion. Figure 1 : Option layout DISCLAIMER: Jacobs has implemented reasonable, current commercial and technical measures using the usual care and thoroughness of a professional firm in the creation of these maps from the spatial data, information and products provided to Jacobs by the Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning (DILGP); Bundaberg Regional Council (BRC); GHD and other consultants; and data custodians including Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM) and data obtained from the Queensland Spatial Catalogue (QSpatial) under the Creative Commons - Attribution 3.0 Australia licence. Jacobs has not independently verified the quality, content, accuracy or completeness of the Data. Jacobs is not responsible or liable for any costs, losses and/or damages suffered as a result of reliance on these maps. All information shown on these maps (including the nature, alignment and extent of any works) is preliminary and provided only for discussion purposes. Note: The outcome depicted is a potential only of the implications associated with this option – and this outcome may not occur or eventuate Find out more about this option Community consultation on the flood mitigation options and the findings of the options assessment will take place from 24 October to 20 November 2016. To find out more about the flood mitigation options and to provide your feedback: Visit the website Contact the project team www.qld.gov.au/bundabergfloodstudy Email: [email protected] Interactive mapping is available on the website so that Telephone: 1800 994 015 (during business hours) you can see how the flood mitigation options would change flooding in your area. Next steps The Bundaberg flood protection study is due to be completed later this year. Engagement on the 10-year action plan will occur in 2017. It is important to note that the flood mitigation options have not yet been considered by the State government and are not government policy. No commitment will be made on any of the options until the State government has consulted with the community and stakeholders on the 10-year action plan. The Queensland Government will continue to engage with the Bundaberg community as the action plan develops..
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