Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority is taking part in the Granite Creeks Flood Study in partnership with Department of Environment Land Water and Planning, VICSES, Strathbogie Shire Council, City of Greater Shepparton and Benalla Rural City Council.
Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority is taking part in the Granite Creeks Flood Study in partnership with Department of Environment Land Water and Planning, VICSES, Strathbogie Shire Council, City of Greater Shepparton and Benalla Rural City Council.
The Victorian Government provided $120,000 for the Granite Creeks Flood Study.
The study area covers almost 200,000 hectares and will develop flood mapping for all creeks north of the Hume Freeway from Avenel to Baddaginnie.
Flood mapping will be produced to inform land use planning, emergency planning and response, and community preparation for floods.
Residents in the study area are encouraged to drop in at a community information session to learn more about the project, and provide the study team with their local knowledge about past floods in the area.
Goulburn Broken Senior Waterways and Floodplain Engineer Tom O’Dwyer said the study team was looking forward to seeing as many community members as possible at the drop-in sessions and listening to their firsthand experiences of flooding.
“The input of local people is extremely valuable for any flood study. Personal anecdotes and photos can be used to validate flood maps produced through computer modelling,” he said.
The Granite Creeks includes a large number of tributaries of the Goulburn and Broken rivers that rise from the Strathbogie Ranges. The major tributaries include Hughes Creek, Pranjip Creek, Creightons Creek, Castle Creek, Seven Creeks, Faithfull Creek, Honeysuckle Creek and Baddaginnie (Five Mile) Creek.
Currently, flood mapping for this area has been based on limited information.
“The new flood mapping produced as part of this project will fill large gaps in our understanding of flooding in this area ranging from small events to events even larger than 1993,” Mr O’Dwyer said.
Three community drop-in sessions will be held at:
• Avenel, Avenel Hall, 11 am to 1 pm, Monday 14 September
• Miepoll, Miepoll Hall, 4 pm to 7 pm, Monday 14 September
• Caniambo, Caniambo Hall, 4 pm to 7 pm, Tuesday 15 September.
Community members unable to attend the information sessions are welcome to contact Tom O’Dwyer at the Goulburn Broken CMA on (03) 5822 7700 for further information and to share their flood knowledge.
The study commenced in February 2015, and is due for completion early next year.