As a Westsider, if you live along the Maribyrnong River, there’s a strong chance you live within cooee of a floodplain.
But where does the floodplain begin and end?
How does it change with the severity of potential floods?
And what has been the impact of climate change?
These were all questions that came to a head in 2022 when the Maribyrnong experienced what experts later ruled was the equivalent of a one in 200-year flood.
A new government report by the Environment and Planning Committee has just released its own flood of data on the subject of floodplain modelling and community education.
In April this year, Melbourne Water released a separate report into its flood modelling and monitoring, and a new set of findings about the impact of climate change.
Both reports found old modelling for the west’s floodplains were in serious need of an update using the latest technology and new scientific findings about extreme weather.
Melbourne Water has already committed to yet another flood modelling update which will use the behaviour of flood water in 2022 to make more refined projections.
The government flood inquiry recommended the state work with local councils and the State Emergency Service to better educate locals about where to find flood models, get updated information, and how to respond if they found they were living on a floodplain.
Maribyrnong City Council told The Westsider door knocking is already underway in affected communities.
The bad news is the inquiry found climate change has already had a serious impact on the Maribyrnong catchment.
If 2022’s flood happened today, thanks to increasingly severe weather, it would already be bigger.
By 2100, a flood of the same scale would be classified as a three in 100-year flood.
The good news is the flood report has made a long list of recommendations for how the state government can better respond to future floods.
Melbourne Water has also already upgraded its flood modelling significantly since October 2022.
WMA Water managing director Mark Babister told the report’s inquiry “Melbourne Water has moved from a modelling platform that was two generations old to a more sophisticated, up-to-date model.”
The state government is due to make its response to the flood inquiry’s findings and recommendations by January 31 next year.
Melbourne Water will release new flood modelling in 2026.
