Noosa gets help to prepare for floods

February floods inundated areas of Noosa Shire. Pictures: Rob Maccoll

The Sunshine Coast will be better prepared for future floods and storms, with the Sunshine Coast Regional Council and Noosa Shire Council receiving over $700,000 for new flood studies, risk assessments and warning intelligence systems as part of an over $18 million Queensland wide package.

The funding will go towards:

$27,734 for a Lake Entrance Boulevard Flood Mitigation Feasibility Assessment

$225,570 for an Update to Noosa River Flood Study

$123,438 for a Noosa Total Flood Warning Review

$13,162 for scoping Study for Flood Warning Intelligence System

$53,739 for a new Flood Warning Intelligence System with integration into Disaster Dashboard

$16,772 for a Scoping Study on updating Noosa River & Six Mile Creek flood study hydrology

$118,040 for the Sunshine Coast Communities Flood Emergency Management Plans

$92,000 for Maroochy River Flood Mitigation Investigation

$69,000 for a Revised IFD Data for Sunshine Coast Flood Studies

Senator Anthony Chisholm welcomed the grants and said it will keep people across the Sunshine Coast safer.

“By understanding the local risks, we can better protect areas from disasters before they strike, which is key to protecting lives and livelihoods, as well as reducing the overall cost of disasters,” Senator Chisholm said.

“As we continue to support flood-impacted areas in the recovery process, we also need to look ahead to how we do better in the future.

“When finished, these flood studies will be a useful tool in the Council’s toolkits.

“The Queensland Government have a strong partner in the Albanese Government and together we are committed to investing in projects that will support disaster resilience.”

A total of 127 projects will be funded by the Albanese and Palaszczuk Governments, through the joint Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).

Funding was open to 36 Local Government Areas who were impacted during the 2021-22 disaster season.

This package is one of three made available through the $31 million Flood Risk Management Program, which is being administered by the Queensland Reconstruction Authority.

Other packages under the program include support for community engagement and education around disaster preparedness; and for remote sensing technology to create 3D maps and models of environments, to better understand potential risks.

The Flood Risk Management Program is part of the greater $721 million extraordinary disaster assistance package delivered jointly by the Commonwealth and Queensland Governments through the DRFA following the 2021-22 season to address the medium and long-term recovery and resilience needs of Queensland communities.