Flood investigations involve a detailed technical analysis of historic information to determine future flooding possibilities and their impacts. Community participation and ground-truthing are essential parts of investigations.
Flow Gauge Board on Wimmera River
A flood investigation will determine the impacts of various flood intensities and often looks at possible options to reduce expected damages.
Dependent upon funding, an investigation may also help to determine actions to be taken by emergency service agencies during times of flooding, and often recommends flood-warning systems to improve community awareness to risks posed.
Once a flood investigation is completed Wimmera CMA works closely with local government to amend planning schemes so that learnings from the investigation are incorporated and planning development is managed to the appropriate flooding risks identified.
Wimmera Floodplain Management Strategy
The purpose of the Wimmera Floodplain Management Strategy (Wimmera FMS) is to provide:
* A regional planning document for floodplain management
* A regional work program to assist with future investment priorities.
The strategy delivers the relevant policies and actions of the Victorian Floodplain Management Strategy (Victorian FMS) that was informed by the Victorian Floods Review and the Victorian Parliament Environment and Natural Resources Committee Inquiry into Flood Management Infrastructure of the 2010-11 floods.
Flow Modelling Study
Wimmera CMA has also completed a flow modelling study of the Wimmera River and Yarriambiack Creek between Glenorchy, Horsham, and Warracknabeal. The study undertook hydrologic and hydraulic modelling of the waterways; it was completed in September 2009. The study assessed both current and 'pre-European' catchment-waterway-floodplain regimes.
Flood and Flow Investigation Reports
The following flood and flow investigations have been completed:
- Warracknabeal and Brim Flood Investigation 2016
Flood and Flow Extent Maps
AEP (Annual Exceedance Probability) Flood and Flow Event Extent Maps
Note: Wimmera CMA is not the lead agency to contact during a flood event.
You can find further information from:
Please note that these maps are a lower resolution to enable quicker downloading.
Find high resolution maps here.
PLEASE NOTE: Maps are provided for general community information purposes only.
Flood levels and floor levels are determined from information available at a particular time and actual levels may exceed those shown. For information about flood conditions and restrictions affecting a particular property, contact Wimmera CMA or the relevant council. Neither Wimmera CMA nor the State of Victoria claim or warrant that the information in this map is accurate, complete or up to date, and neither Wimmera CMA nor the State shall be responsible or liable in respect of any use of or reliance placed on it by any person.
Flood Warning Network
Wimmera CMA has worked with emergency response agencies and the community to develop the Wimmera Flood Warning Network. The network consists of radio-telemetry equipment at existing river and rain gauges throughout the Wimmera, linked to the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) and Wimmera CMA offices. The information is then fed into computer based models that are used to predict the likelihood of flooding that may occur, the extent of the flooding and the timing so as to provide information to emergency services and the community through early warning messages.
The system is under constant review, with all flood investigations considering opportunities for network improvement.
You can find real-time information from these gauges on the BoM website.