Council has awarded a tender to Manly Hydraulics Laboratory to deliver a Total Flood Warning System (TFWS), marking a key step forward in improving flood preparedness across the Shoalhaven.
The flood warning system will provide early warning on elevated lake levels due to rainfall or storm surges at Lake Conjola, Burrill Lake and Tabourie Lake.
CEO, Andrew Constance said Manly Hydraulics Laboratory is the NSW Government's expert agency in flood and coastal modelling and brings extensive experience in delivering these types of systems.
"The appointment of Manly Hydraulics to deliver this project should provide local communities with peace of mind and greater confidence that we're improving our ability to monitor and respond early to flood risk," Mr Constance said.
"This system will give us better data and provide forecasting and more timely warnings, so residents can make informed decisions and prepare early when conditions change," he said.
"This project forms part of Council's broader commitment to strengthening resilience in flood prone communities and improving how we prepare for and respond to extreme weather events."
The Total Flood Warning System will provide Council and the NSW SES with the data needed to provide early warnings, improve flood response, and help communities prepare for flooding. The flood prediction system will use information from:
- Latest measured rainfall and water level from gauges within the catchment and nearby regions.
- Latest rainfall forecast from the Bureau of Meteorology.
- Latest entrance channel condition and known entrance scouring behaviour during flooding.
- Latest wave conditions and forecast wave heights.
The Total Flood Warning System will include the installation of two new water level gauges and five new rainfall gauges across the catchments. The project also includes communication upgrades of existing water level and rainfall gauges to increase redundancy during flood events.
Once completed, the system will be integrated into the NSW SES's emergency response procedures to assist during flood events.
The NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water has provided $470,000 toward the project which is expected to be delivered by the end of June 2027 at Lake Conjola, Burrill Lake and Tabourie Lake.
