General Approach to Flood Modelling to Address Flood Immunity Issues as Part of the Development Assessment Process in Townsville

Abstract

Water is essential to our daily lives and yet it has the ability to cause harm and damage to our community at large during a major flood event. As part of the development assessment process in Townsville, strategic and local area flood models and mappings are used to inform the decision makers with the most likely, or probable, flood impacts that may occur as a result of proposed developments. This paper will discuss the general methodology of flood modelling and its applications in assessing the impact of development proposals. A generic and simulated case study is presented to illustrate interactively how a flood model could be used in practice. Finally, but not least, some of the issues and challenges still facing the subject matter are briefly discussed and, some possible strategies e.g. risk based approach are suggested for consideration to attempt addressing these issues and challenges