SES and UNE support NSW Farmers call for comprehensive flood review

NSW State Emergency Services (SES) North West Zone Media Officer David Rankine said a flood review would be in line with what the organisation learned from speaking with local communities about their response to last year's devastating floods.

"We certainly welcome reviews like this. The one great learning from the 2022 floods right across the state is you can never have too much information," Mr Rankine said.

The call for an independent statewide review came last week from agricultural advocacy group NSW Farmers, whose president, Xavier Martin, saw his hometown of Gunnedah inundated with floods six times in late-2022.

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Mr Rankine says having access to more information would've better equipped the SES to handle those floods.

"We learned during the peak flood events, particularly the ones experienced in Gunnedah, there are a number of ungauged creeks and tributaries that changed the dynamics of the flooding," SES David Rankine said.

University of New England Dean of Geography Martin Thoms said he supports the review and would "take it a step further" to include a focus on the effects of climate change.

"One of the things we do know is that under climate change scenarios, the nature of flooding is going to alter. The frequency might not change, but the severity of flooding events will become shorter and sharper," Mr Thoms said.

He said this increase in severity is changing the way water flows across the state, meaning flooding may occur in areas previously thought to be safe, deal more damage, and become even more dangerous.

The last statewide inquiry into flooding events, published in July 2022, also said climate change was a cause of uncertainty and advocated further investment into research.

"Critically, the 2022 floods must become the catalyst for change in the way Government and community consider floods and floodplains," the report said.

Mr Thoms also said he advocates for a broader floodplain management strategy than the state government currently implements, one which would prevent developers from building on high-risk areas.

Short of that, he said a review of all licensed and unlicensed infrastructure in NSW, as the NSW Farmers are calling for, would be a "very important step" in the right direction for adapting to future flood events.

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