The long debate over improving the river/stream/rain gauges in the Lismore local government area has been solved, with the Bureau of Meteorology now taking ownership and responsibility of all gauges.

Lismore City Council has been unsuccessfully applying for funding to upgrade its 15 stream gauges plus add seven new river gauges across the Richmond River, Leycester Creek catchments and upstream of the Lismore CBD. The applications were unsuccessful because Lismore City Council's (LCC) Floodplain Risk Management Plan was adopted in 2014, so not current enough, according to then-General Manager John Walker.

A spokesperson for LCC said council was happy about the handover to the Bureau of Meteorology.

"Council suggested, in its submission to the NSW Government’s Independent Inquiry into the 2022 natural disaster, that ownership of the rain and stream gauge network should be centralised to a single agency.

The Lismore App also asked about the status of the proposed automatic road flood warning system which was discussed at a recent Floodplain Risk Management meeting.

The reply was:

The Australian Government has funded the installation of digital advance warning flood signs at three sites in our Local Government Area to improve safety for motorists during future weather events.

The signs have been installed at the three sites below and will be commissioned and tested over the next few weeks.

• Wyrallah Road (Monaltrie Road & Skyline Road)
• Boatharbour Road (Richmond Hill Road & Cameron Road)
• Nimbin Road (Bishops Creek)

The installations include automatic electric warning signs, as well as a separate camera mounted on a high pole at each site where the stream gauge/sensor is located.

The signs require minimal maintenance and operate with a sensor, meaning that when water levels reach a specific depth over the road, the signs are automatically activated to close the road.

The solar powered signs and cameras also automatically connect to Council’s Disaster Dashboard and Live Traffic. 

The cameras are activated once the creek/stream reaches a pre-determined level and/or the signs are activated. 

These automatic advance warning signs don’t require Council staff to manually travel out and place “Road Closed” signs. This in turn frees up our staff to focus on other important tasks during the times where roads are flooded, such as closing flood gates, removing fallen trees, moving Council assets to higher ground and generally assisting our community.

Council will be looking for opportunities to provide more of these signs into the future. 

The Tranche 1 $50 million funding for the Northern Rivers Recovery and Resilience Program that was announced on February 23 this year is finally set to get underway now that funding has been received from the NRRC and the Federal Government.