Bundaberg Regional Council's 10-year Stormwater Management Strategy has been developed to sustainably manage the network.
The draft strategy is open for community consultation until Monday, 14 December 2020.
Roads and drainage portfolio spokesman, Cr Bill Trevor, said the strategy aimed to provide a more proactive approach to stormwater management.
“For many years drainage issues have been dealt with reactively due to limited information, strategy and budget,” Cr Trevor said.
“In more recent times Council has delivered record capital works budgets to address stormwater drainage issues but we recognise that a more strategic and sustainable approach is required in the long term.
“The strategy will enable Council to deliver a service that caters for future growth while maintaining and improving existing stormwater infrastructure.
“Through targeted maintenance and renewal, the strategy aims to future proof our stormwater network while minimising risk and improving safety during future weather events.”
The strategy sets Council’s future direction for managing stormwater with a priority placed on minimising the consequences to human life, assets, community wellbeing, the environment, and the economy.
Throughout the strategy development process, more than 50 operational initiatives and 150 potential capital projects were identified.
The document says in order to prioritise these based on risk and value, a multi-criteria assessment (MCA) tool was developed.
“This tool considers how a given project aligns with and delivers on the values identified by stakeholders,” the draft strategy says.
“The highest priority values surround public safety and risk reduction. This framework captures the benefits, deficits and costs associated with each project using a simple scoring system.
“The score for each project is summarised in a ranked list which will support decisions regarding future stormwater investment.”
The 10-year Stormwater Management Strategy would deliver:
- An overarching vision for the long-term management of stormwater
- A consistent and transparent approach to identifying and prioritising future expenditure, with first priority the protection of human life and property, followed by flood mitigation and environmental benefit.
- A commitment to progressively reduce risk and improve community resilience with clear actions and accountabilities
- Maximising environmental health of waterways, social amenity, pollution control, affordability and minimising impacts of a changing climate.
To have your say and to view the draft strategy head to ourbundabergregion.com.au.
- Download the strategy
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Sounds like lots of planning, and strategies to deal with storm events and minor flooding.
Its been 7 years since the floods. What is the priority of flood mitigation for another major flood event? Has the river been dredged yet? Why not?