Four years after the 2022 flood devastated Lismore, Lismore City Council is marking a significant milestone in its recovery program, with 133 flood restoration projects now complete and more than 140 still underway.

What began in mud, shock and uncertainty has grown into the largest capital works program ever delivered by a local council in New South Wales. Since 2023, Council has governed a $1 billion state and federally funded flood restoration portfolio spanning 338 projects across water, roads and bridges, buildings, waste and resilience infrastructure.

Mayor Steve Krieg said reaching the four-year mark brings perspective.

“It’s hard to believe that we’re four years on from one of Australia’s biggest natural disasters,” he said. “In that time, we’ve achieved so much in the rebuild and the recovery of Lismore.”

The scale is significant. Alongside the 133 completed projects, 135 contracts have been executed, with $145 million worth of works currently underway. More than $200 million has flowed directly into local and regional businesses, supporting tradies, suppliers and contractors across the Northern Rivers.

Major community assets have been fully restored with resilience upgrades, including the Lismore City Library, Lismore Memorial Baths, Lismore Regional Gallery and the Municipal Building. Across the LGA, 82 road restoration projects have been completed, alongside major landslip stabilisation works on Nimbin Road and Woodlawn Road.

Critical infrastructure has also been strengthened, including the rollout of a new fibre-optic network to wastewater pump stations, urban drainage improvements, Nimbin watermain renewal and the early completion of a new landfill. Ten new flood-resilient amenities blocks have also been delivered.

But for the Mayor, the anniversary is not about celebration, it is about recognition.

“I wanted today to be a recognition of how far we’ve come,” he said.

He was candid about the challenges faced early on, particularly being the first community in NSW to experience a disaster of that scale.

“Unlike in Queensland, there was no template, no road map, we had to figure it out as we went,” he said.

That learning curve has reshaped how recovery is now managed. Council strengthened its procurement, governance and oversight systems during the rebuild, changes that are now embedded permanently in its operating model. The experience in Lismore has helped inform broader state-level disaster response reforms.

Still, the recovery is uneven.

“I know that there are still many residents in Lismore that are suffering and are hurting,” Mayor Krieg said. “You’ve only got to drive around North and South Lismore, there’s still caravans in driveways. There’s still homes yet to be repaired.”

Around 650 buyback properties remain a work in progress through the Reconstruction Authority, and long-term housing solutions are still unfolding.

The memory of 2022 remains raw for many, including those leading the recovery.

“I remember driving around with a major general who had done several tours to war zones and he’s crying going, ‘I’ve never seen anything like what I’m seeing in Lismore,’” Mayor Krieg said. “And now look at how far we’ve come in four years.”

He acknowledged frustrations with aspects of the broader recovery process but said the focus remains on pushing forward.

“It could be quicker. There’s no question about that,” he said. “But you’ve just gotta get up and keep going.”

For Council, the rebuild has not been treated as a temporary surge in activity. Instead, systems have been strengthened to ensure disaster response becomes long-term institutional capability rather than a short-term reaction.

The result is a council that is operating at a different scale and level of oversight than it did pre-2022, something Mayor Krieg believes will benefit the city well beyond flood recovery.

“Our local residents have dug in and rebuilt their homes. Our businesses have decided we are going to stick here and invest,” he said. “We are committed to this city like you wouldn’t believe.”

As the city looks ahead, one piece of information Council is watching closely is the CSIRO study expected this year, work that will help inform what the next phase of flood mitigation and protection could look like for Lismore and the broader region.

“The CSIRO report is something that we are really excited to see the outcome of,” Mayor Krieg said.

He described it as a chance to back up the billions already spent on recovery with investment aimed at protecting Lismore into the future.

“We all know that the ’22 disaster costs about $16 billion in government investment, insurance payouts and private money,” he said. “A small percentage of that… one and a half to $2 billion to protect a regional centre… will go a long way to growing the region.”

“It’s not all about Lismore,” he said. “It’s about our towns like Casino, Ballina, Mullumbimby… as far as Kyogle and Tenterfield [that] rely on Lismore for their health services, for their commercial legal and accounting service. So Lismore really is critical and we need to get that investment.”

Four years on, the job is not finished. Hundreds of projects remain in delivery. Families are still rebuilding their lives. Some wounds are still visible.

But across Lismore and its villages, the evidence of progress is now impossible to ignore. The city that once sat under brown water is rebuilding, methodically, deliberately and with systems designed to stand stronger next time. And for a community that knows floods are part of its history, that matters.