Coastal Creeks Flood Risk Management Study & Plan Update

We invite you to share your flood experiences to help us better understand flood behaviour in Tweed’s coastal creeks. Your input is crucial in shaping our flood study and ensuring our plans meet community needs.

Funded by the NSW Government's Floodplain Management Program, with support from the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, we have engaged flood specialists WMAwater to update the:

• Tweed-Byron Coastal Creeks Flood Study, including the flood maps addendum
• Tweed Coastal Creeks Floodplain Risk Management Study
• Tweed Coastal Creeks Floodplain Risk Management Plan.

Together, these studies and plans provide a comprehensive understanding of flood risk (flood mapping) and outline the actions we intend to take to mitigate flooding in the coastal creek catchments.

2022 Flooding in Cabarita/Bogangar, looking west along Rosewood Avenue from Tweed Coast Road

Why your input matters

We are currently in the early stages of 'data collection' and 'flood study preparation' to identify existing flooding issues in the catchments.

Community input is essential for the flood study as it helps us to gather personal experiences and insights from past floods.

Historical flood data, including rainfall, water levels and survey marks, along with community experiences, are used to calibrate and verify our computer flood models to ensure they can accurately simulate historical and potential future flood events.

Learn more about the various community consultations and engagements below.

Tweed coastal creeks

The Tweed coastal creeks between Brunswick Heads and Tweed Heads have a long history of flooding. Towns such as Bogangar/Cabarita Beach, Hastings Point, Pottsville, Burringbar, Mooball and Crabbes Creek often face inundation from floodwaters. This is mainly due to heavy rainfall over the catchment and/or elevated water levels in the ocean due to storm surges or exceptional tidal conditions.

The updated flood study will include all areas of the coastal catchments (i.e. Cudgen Creek, Cudgera Creek, Mooball Creek and Marshalls Creek) because these systems interact during heavy rain. By assessing them together, we can understand how they interact during floods.

The updated flood study will also include the tributaries within the catchment areas of Cudgen, Cudgera, Mooball and Marshalls creeks. Smaller watercourses, such as Burringbar Creek and Crabbes Creek, which feed into Mooball Creek, play a critical role in flood behaviour by contributing to the flow and spread of floodwaters. By including these tributaries in the study, we can gain a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of flooding across the entire catchment, ensuring that all contributing factors are considered in the flood risk management strategies.

In February and March 2022, significant flooding impacted many areas along the NSW Far North Coast, including the Tweed coastal creeks, causing extensive damage to our community, property, business, industry and public infrastructure.

What a flood study is and why we need an update

A flood study is a technical investigation of how flooding behaves in a region, using computer models to simulate historical and potential flood events.

The main outcome of a flood study is detailed flood mapping, which defines the extent and characteristics of flooding (such as level, depth and velocity) for a full range of possible flood events.

The previous flood study, completed in 2009, is being updated to include lessons learned from recent floods, new data and modern modelling techniques. This ensures we have the best information available for assessing flood management options.

We are currently collecting data and preparing the flood study to better understand flooding in the coastal creek catchments.

After the flood study, we will develop a community survey on the Flood Risk Management Study and Plan. During this phase, we encourage the community to discuss potential flood risk management measures, which may include infrastructure, emergency response (such as warnings), property modifications and planning controls.

Check out the FAQs to learn more about what a flood study is, why an update is needed, the flood risk management process we follow, the different types of flooding and more.

This information will help you engage effectively in our community consultations.

Understanding the process

We value the local knowledge and personal experiences of our community members, as they provide valuable insights into past floods. This information helps identify flooding ‘trouble spots’ and ensures the development of an accurate computer flood model.

We will consult with the community at various stages of the flood study to gather this important information:

• We encourage you to complete the survey and share your past flooding experiences.
• Once the computer model is developed, we will consult with local residents and business owners who have experienced flooding to verify that the model accurately reflects these past experiences.
• After the draft flood study report is prepared, we will hold community workshops where you can review the report and associated maps and ask questions about any aspect of the study. Any comments from the workshops will be reviewed and addressed in the final report.

What comes next

After the flood study, we will develop a Flood Risk Management Study and Plan. During this phase, we will ask the community to complete a survey to share ideas on ways to reduce flooding. This may include measures such as infrastructure improvements, emergency response plans (like warnings), property changes and planning controls. We want to hear your input and ideas on these measures, which will be considered for inclusion in the Flood Risk Management Study and our forward plans. The community will be invited to engage, discuss and provide feedback on potential solutions for managing flood risks.

For more details on the Flood Risk Management Study and Plan, as well as the types of measures that may be considered, please refer to the FAQs.

Once the options are identified, the computer model will be used to assess their impact. Additionally, the options will be reviewed for their social, economic and environmental impacts. Following this, we will hold another round of community workshops. Feedback from these workshops will be reviewed and the assessment will be updated as needed. If necessary, additional workshops or presentations will be held to provide responses to any questions or comments raised during the sessions.

Share your flood experiences

We invite you to participate in the initial community consultation by completing our community survey by Sunday 19 January 2025. Your flood experiences are important to ensure the flood study meets community needs.

The next community consultation will take place once the draft flood study has been developed. The draft flood study will be on public exhibition and you will have the opportunity to make a submission or comment.

Another community survey, focused on potential flood management measures, will be developed at a later stage in the project. At that time, we will also hold community consultation sessions to discuss and develop management measures that align with the community’s understanding of flooding. This is your opportunity to share your thoughts and discuss potential solutions for managing flood risk in your area.