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Hello and welcome to the May 2024 FMA Monthly Flyer. For those of you who have not heard the news, I am absolutely honoured to
have taken up the role of FMA President at the conclusion of the 2024 Annual General Meeting in Brisbane. I am so proud of how far FMA has come over the last 10+ years, particularly in terms of professionalism, advocacy, collaboration and teamwork. Huge thanks must go to
previous President Ian Dinham, previous Deputy President Allan Gear and previous Immediate Past Chairman Allan Ezzy for their contributions and dedication over so many years that have helped make that happen. I have been the FMA Communications Director since 2016, and it is great to
acknowledge the significant progress in community communications, resilience and engagement strategies in flood risk management that we have seen over the past 5 to 10 years. Also, from the conclusion of the AGM in Brisbane, I am pleased to introduce to you the new FMA Executive
Team, who I am really looking forward to working with: President – Sue Ribbons Deputy President – Danny Rose,
Tweed Shire Council Technical Director – Will Prentice, Water Technology Land Use Planning Director – Paul Grech, GLN Planning Queensland Director – Jess Carey, Stantec Communications Director – Catherine Walker, WMS Engineering Emeritus President (previously known as Immediate Past President) – Ian Dinham Executive Officer - Glenn Evans Last week, at the highlight of the FMA calendar, 480 like-minded flood risk management practitioners came together at the annual FMA National Conference and Pre-conference Workshops at the Brisbane Conference and Exhibition Centre. It was a fabulous Conference, and I am sure we all had a great time from lots of networking with old and new flood colleagues and learnt lots of new things over the five-day conference. At the last session of the Conference, we always have a ceremonial handing over of the banner to next year’s Conference, which will be in Melbourne from 13-16 May 2025. Block out your diaries now … so much more info to come on that later! Sue Ribbons FMA President
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FMA 2024, OUR SECOND BIGGEST CONFERENCE YET
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Thank you to everyone who contributed to FMA 2024 becoming FMA’s second largest Conference, with 486 registrations. That’s more 100 greater than our previous Brisbane Conference in 2015. We were delighted with the success of the five-day program which included an opening address by Queensland Minister for Fire and Disaster Recovery the Hon Nikki Boyd, and Keynote Speakers Professor Gavin Smith (North Carolina State University College of Design), Dr Margaret Cook (Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University) and Professor Paula Jarzabkowski (University of Queensland). A special thank you goes to our international guests who travelled from the USA, UK, New Zealand and the Philippines to share their experiences. The Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre facilities coped well with over 100 presentations in four streams, 19 poster talks, an extensive display of the latest technology and equipment, and 177 participating organisations. It’s impossible to get to every presentation of interest, so all presenters have been requested to provide their paper and presentation for inclusion in the Members’ Section of the FMA Website in coming weeks. Watch out next month for the announcement of the winner of the Harold Sternbeck Medal for best presentation, plus the Outstanding YFM Presenter Award. And please take a few minutes to complete the online evaluation form recently emailed by East Coast
Conferences. Your feedback is important to us, and invaluable in planning for future FMA Conferences. Below are some reminders of the great week...
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Pictured: Risk to Life Workshop Pictured: Young Floodplain Managers TriWater Tournament Pictured: Rivershed Casual Dinner Pictured: Conference Gala Dinner Pictured: Banner Handover Ceremony
THE FMA EXCELLENCE AWARDS WINNERS ARE...
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The first official duty of incoming FMA President Sue Ribbons was to announce the winners of the 2024 FMA Excellence Awards at the lavish Conference Dinner. Taking home trophies and healthy food hampers were:
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FMA - IAG Young Floodplain Manager of the Year Award Winner Catherine Walker (WMS Engineering) FMA - Allan Ezzy Flood Risk Manager of the Year Award Winner Peter Cinque (NSW State Emergency Service) FMA - IAG Flood Risk Management Project of the Year Award Highly Commended Improving Floodplain Connections (NSW Department of
Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water – Water) and Logan Flood Portal (Logan City Council) not present at Ceremony. The Project Award
Winner also took home a cheque for $10,000 courtesy of Excellence Awards Sponsor IAG. IAG’s Manager for Land Planning Hazards, Andrew Dyer, said, “IAG congratulates the agencies and their consultants involved in developing the Hawkesbury-Nepean River Flood Study, all deserved
recipients of the 2024 FMA IAG Flood Risk Management Project of the Year Award. “This study is a great advancement in helping communities to better understand their local risk, while highlighting the importance of mitigation and adaptation in the area. It also showcases
the value of industry collaboration to reduce flood risk in Australia, protecting future communities from being placed in harm’s way.” Ms Ribbons said all award finalists were of particularly high standard this year and deserving of acknowledgement, making the role of the judging
committee particularly difficult. “An important role of the Awards is not just to announce winners, but to shine a light on some of the many impressive flood risk management activities being undertaken across the country by FMA Members. “So please start considering which flood
projects and champions you can nominate for the 2025 Excellence Awards.”
2024 CONFERENCE PAPERS NOW AVAILABLE
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Conference papers are now available exclusively to FMA Members in the Members' Section of floods.asn.au. Conference Powerpoint presentations will be made available in the coming weeks. If you still need to send through your Full Paper or Extended abstract, please contact us. If you require login details, please contact Dominique Evans at projectservices@floods.asn.au.
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FMA PRIVACY POLICY, COOKIE POLICY AND TERMS OF SERVICE
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As discussed at the recent Annual General Meeting, FMA's Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy and Terms of Service have been updated, and may be found at the FMA website: floods.asn.au/about-us Also, invoices for 2024-25 FMA Membership will be issued progressively over the next month. The annual fees remain unchanged from 2023-24. If your organisation requires a Purchase Order number to be included on the Membership Tax Invoice it would be helpful if that can be provided as soon as possible to Glenn Evans: eo@floods.asn.au
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SURPRISING NATIONAL FLOOD WARNING STATISTICS
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Bureau of Meteorology Senior Hydrologist Giancarlo Bonotto’s update to the FMA Annual General Meeting included some surprising Flood Warning statistics. Over the period of May 2023 to April 2024 there were far fewer heavy rainfall events than in the previous 12 months, nevertheless 2,673 flood warnings were issued across the country. This compares with 6,174 warnings issued in the previous year. It was very
dry during spring but a really wet during summer, when eight tropical cyclones eventuated - Jasper, Anggrek, Kirrily, Lincoln, Neville, Megan, Olga and Paul. Mr Bonotto explained that in El Niño conditions, waters near Australia are typically cooler than normal, supressing rainfall.
However, The Coral Sea became anomalously warm during early summer, when global sea surface temperatures were the warmest on record for each month between April 2023 and April 2024. Three out of seven international climate models are now predicting a La Niña by late winter. This
means that there is significant uncertainty at this stage and current forecasts of the ENSO (El Niño and La Niña) state beyond May should be used with caution. Keep up to date with the latest Bureau information: Medium term (weekly and fortnightly) rainfall and temperature forecasts are updated daily at http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/outlooks/ Long term (month to seasonal) forecasts are updated every Thursday and available at http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/outlooks/ Climate Driver Update is issued
every second Tuesday and available at http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/
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YFM MONTHLY FEATURE
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The FMA Young Floodplain Managers (YFM) network exists to represent, engage, and inspire young floodplain management professionals across Australia. Whilst the YFM's mission is to represent, engage, support and inspire young floodplain management professionals across the nation, anyone who supports this objective is welcome to apply for membership of the YFM and engage in the group's actions, irrespective of their age or level of experience. Are you interested in finding out more? You can connect with the YFM by visiting the YFM Linkedin page here or submit a YFM Membership application at
floods.asn.au/yfm. Did you know YFM Webinars and
Online Panel recordings can be found in the Members' Section of floods.asn.au? If you haven’t registered for the Members’ Section, contact us to get your login details.
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UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS
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FMA New South Wales/ACT Chapter Meeting Dates for 2024 Thursday 15 August - NSW/ACT Chapter Meeting at Sydney
Thursday 14 November - NSW/ACT Chapter Meeting at Sydney
--- FMA Queensland Chapter Meeting Dates for 2024
Wednesday 7 August - Queensland Chapter Meeting at Brisbane
Wednesday 6 November - Queensland Chapter Meeting at Brisbane
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POSITIONS VACANT
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Water Technology
Senior Engineer
Floodplains - Adelaide Fraser Coast Regional Council Senior Engineer Stormwater
If you are interested in promoting a vacant position with us, please contact us.
Please remember that while we circulate Vacant Positions in this monthly Flyer, sometimes position closing deadlines don't align with the time of its distribution. Make sure you head
to floods.asn.au/jobs to check for Vacant Positions that may not be listed here due to shorter closing dates.
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TRAVELLING CAPS, HATS AND BEANIES
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Pictured: Graeme Milligan at the flood gates and lock on a dam on the Duoro River, Portugal with his FMA Conference beanie. Have you got a photo of your FMA Conference Cap, Beanie or Bucket Hat?
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