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NEXT FMA MEETING FMA Queensland Chapter Meeting, Wednesday 16 November 2016 in Brisbane
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FMA November Quarterly Meeting, Thursday 24 November 2016 in Sydney. |
FMA-OEH FRM Short Course 8-9 September |
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The FMA-OEH Flood Risk Management Short Course block Managing Flood Risk to Existing Properties commences on 8th September at the University of Technology, Sydney.
Topics included in this program include: - Roles of FRM studies and plan in managing risk to existing
development
- FRM issues for existing development
- Full range of practical FRM options and associated decision making and implementation issues
- Determining the appropriate option for a particular situation
- The impacts works can have upon the environment and other management objectives and how these can be
considered
- Approvals necessary for mitigation work projects
- Continuing flood risk and how to manage this risk, and implementation of management plans.
This course is particularly useful for those involved in floodplain management and drainage, but is also suitable for all those wishing to have a better understanding of flood risk management.
Schedule: 8-9 September Fee: $550 (GST free) Location: UTS Broadway
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FMA August Quarterly Meeting Roundup |
50 Members and visitors attended the 18 August Quarterly Meeting and Workshop at the Bureau of Meteorology’s office in Sydney, where attendees were welcomed by Acting New South Wales Regional Director Stephen Lellyett.
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Pictured: FMA President Ian Dinham awarding Allan Gear with his 2016 Harold Sternbeck Medal, Sydney.
Speakers included FMA Ambassador Allan Gear who provided a fascinating snapshot of his experiences at the US Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan in June. Mr Gear attended the conference at his own expense, and participated in a range of technical sessions including delivering his own presentation, “Of Doubts and Flooded Drains – The Artistry in Defining an Urban Overland Flowpath”
Mr Gear is also winner of the prestigious 2016 Harold Sternbeck Medal for the outstanding presentation at the FMA Conference. His conference presentation formed the basis for his presentation to the US ASFPM Conference. FMA President Ian Dinham presented Allan with his medal at the meeting.
Highly Commended Certificates were presented to Andrew Gissing, with co-authors Katharine Haynes
and Lucinda Coates, from Risk Frontiers, for the paper entitled ‘An Analysis of Human Fatalities from Flood Hazards in Australia 1900-2014’, and Stephen Yeo, Flood Focus Consulting, with Thelma Marr and Ailsa Schofield from Shoalhaven City Council, and for the paper entitled ‘Plans Schmans? How Caravan Parks Responded to the August 2015 Sussex Inlet and Conjola Lake Floods’.
Pictured: Karl Sullivan (ICA) presenting to the Quarterly Meeting in Sydney. The Insurance Council of Australia’s General Manager Risk Karl Sullivan provided a potted history of flood insurance in Australia, from its beginnings in 2006-2007 when there was no residential flood insurance available to 2016 when 94.5% of residential policies have full flood cover.
Mr Sullivan said most Councils are providing
flood information for ICA’s National Flood Information Database. In those areas where Councils have not provided the information ICA is using an alternative product, but generally it won’t be as accurate.
At the NSW level State Emergency Service’s Geospatial Intelligence Program Coordinator Stephanie Plattner delivered an update on the NSW Government’s Flood Data Web Portal Project which will proceed to user
acceptance testing shortly. All Councils will have access to the Portal.
FMA’s next meetings are:
Brisbane - Queensland Chapter Meeting on Wednesday 16 November
Sydney - NSW Chapter (Quarterly) Meeting on Thursday 24 November.
Pictured: Grantley Smith (WRL) presenting at the Workshop in
Sydney.
Workshop Discusses Vehicle Stability in Floods A highlight of the Quarterly Meeting was the workshop led by Grantley Smith, Principal Engineer and Manager of the Water Research Laboratory (WRL) of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UNSW Australia. A team at WRL has recently tested how cars behave when they encounter flood waters.
The tests are a world first: previous experiments to understand the stability of cars in floodwaters have relied on using vehicle miniatures, rather than actual cars. The presentation provided an overview of the experiments and an interpretation of WRL’s preliminary findings.
The work was made possible through the support of
the NSW SES, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage and IAG.
FMA Submission on Draft South East and Tablelands Regional Plan |
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This month, FMA Land Use Planning Director Paul Grech prepared a submission on the Draft South East and Tablelands Regional Plan for the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment.
In particular FMA recommends the following be undertaken prior to the finalisation of the Draft Plan: - Identify the floodplains within
the planning region and the key FRM considerations for development (e.g. evacuation and private and public damages due to significant flood depths).
- Include a Regional Flood Planning Map that shows the extent of the floodplain(s) defined by the NSW Floodplain Development Manual, and associated elements relevant to FRM.
- Determine suitable development areas having regard to cumulative flood
impacts.
- Identify regional flood risk mitigation measures that are required to ameliorate the impact of future development (e.g. augmented capacity to evacuation routes).
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2017 FMA Conference - Call For Abstracts Opens Soon |
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The
Conference will run from 16-19 May 2017, and will be our best Conference yet, attracting over 350 flood risk management professionals from around Australia and overseas.
The focus of the event will be Preparing for the Next Great Flood, which looks at applying lessons from past floods and overcoming the challenges to helping our communities avoid future disasters.
The Call for Abstracts will open next week and we will be looking for a
range of high quality presentations from across Australia dealing with riverine, overland and flash flooding, and coastal inundation. The content can be technical or non-technical to suit our varied audience. Tertiary students studying floodplain management or natural disaster management are particularly encouraged to participate.
The program will provide for 20 minute and 10 minute oral presentations, and poster presentations. Discussion topics and other details will be
listed from next week on the conference website, http://floodplainconference.com/ The closing date for abstract submission is 28 October.
Registration for the Conference will be available from October, so make sure you mark the dates in your diary and budget now.
If you are
interested in being a sponsor or exhibitor for this event, please contact East Coast Conferences on (61-2) 6650 9800. |
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Members should have received FMA Membership renewal notices for 2016 - 2017. Thank you to those who have already paid. Membership fees are the FMA’s main source of operating income so prompt payment will be greatly appreciated.
FMA
Membership now includes over 120 Councils, local flood authorities, consultants, businesses and individuals from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, ACT and South Australia.
If you know of an organisation or individual who may benefit from becoming a Member please refer them to the FMA website - floods.org.au/membership.
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Victorian FMA Members Reducing Rural Flood Risk |
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Following on from their FMA Highly Commended Project of the Year Award with the Warracknabeal and Brim Flood Investigation, Water Technology is now finalising the Dunmunkle Creek Flood Investigation for Wimmera CMA.
The project has used a regional scale flexible mesh flood model covering over 100
km of Dunmunkle Creek, a distributary of the Wimmera River. The project had two major objectives; assessing and minimising the flood impact from recent decommissioning of GWMWater’s redundant channel system, and reducing the flood damages for the rural township of Rupanyup.
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Pictured: Corner of Dyer and Walter Streets Rupanyup, January 2011.
During the January 2011 floods, modifications to the Wimmera Mallee stock and domestic channel system brought about by the installation of the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline resulted in flooding in areas previously not experienced.
Wimmera CMA and Water Technology have worked with the communities along Dunmunkle Creek to ensure further channel decommissioning is designed in a way which allows
inundation to occur as naturally as possible while limiting adverse impact to agricultural property.
Pictured: 1% AEP Riverine Flood Extent and Buildings
Inundated. Rupanyup is at risk from both stormwater and riverine inundation. In a 1% AEP flood event 38 buildings are at risk of inundation above floor and a further 152 may be flooded below floor. In the January 2011 flood event large areas of Rupanyup were flooded.
Water Technology, Wimmera CMA and the Rupanyup community were able to produce a flood mitigation concept which reduces the number of properties flooded above floor in a 1% AEP event to just one, while reducing the number of properties flooded below floor to 18. The final mitigation scheme was largely achieved by the modification of existing infrastructure and will provide the community with the ability to significantly reduce their flood risk.
Water Technology and Wimmera CMA are hopeful that the proposed mitigation scheme will be funded for detailed design and construct in the near future.
Tafe NSW Centre for Emergency Management Studies Enrolments Open |
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The Centre for Emergency Management Studies (Riverina Institute) is now offering portable national training in individual emergency management competencies as well as an Advanced Diploma in Public Safety (EM).
The units now available for enrolment (commencing in September) in online
competencies are:
- Planning for Emergencies
- Business Continuity Planning
- Community Safety Messaging
- Introduction to Emergency Management.
For more information on courses available, contact Heather Crawley on 02 6058 2724. |
NZHS, HWRS and Rivers Group Joint Conference 2016 Earlybird Registrations Open |
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New Zealand Hydrological Society, Engineers Australia’s National Committee on Water Engineering Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium & IPENZ Rivers Group
joint conference will be taking place in Queenstown, New Zealand from 28 November – 2 December 2016.
The theme of the Conference is “Water, Infrastructure and the Environment”. Over four days, Conference delegates will hear from leading experts in hydrology and will include concurrent oral papers and poster presentations which form a major part of the conference program.
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2D Floodplain Modelling in Brisbane and Sydney |
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Surface Water Solutions will be hosting a number of HEC-RAS Workshops in the coming months, and FMA Members are eligible to receive a discount on the cost of attending.
In addition to covering practical and theoretical background as well as the latest advances in 2D modelling, the course is designed to prepare attendees to build,
run, interpret and animate 2D floodplain models from scratch using the free, newly released HEC-RAS software.
Details and registration forms for the Sydney course can be accessed at
HEC-RAS 5.0 with 2D hydraulic modelling capabilities
was released in March 2016.
Presentations, printed manuals, tutorial project files,
and other materials for the training course are provided under license agreement with WEST Consultants, a contracted training provider for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The Brisbane course will be held 13-14 September and the Sydney course will be held 15-16 September.
The price for the 2-day course is $800 + GST (incl. GST). A 25% registration discount is available for FMA members by using the coupon code "FMA" at
checkout.
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POSITIONS VACANT
As a service to our Members we welcome information on career opportunities in the area of floodplain management.
City of Sydney Senior Engineer - Water Quality Assets
· $100,072 p.a. plus superannuation
· Term contract up until 30 June 2019
· Develop & manage a world class infrastructure asset portfolio
· Option to enter into a 19 day month flexible working arrangement
The City is seeking an innovative and motivated Senior Engineer to
join Council’s Water Assets Team.
To apply please visit www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/jobs or for more information contact Peter Garland, Principal Engineer Water Asset on (02)9246 7859.
Applications must address the selection criteria stated within the position description and be made online via the website by Thursday 1 September 2016.
Office of Environment and Heritage
Classification: Engineer Grade 3
Location: Illawarra & South Coast-Wollongong & the South Coast
Work Type: Full-time
Total Remuneration Package:
$120,788.
• The position will play a key role in developing and implementing floodplain risk management plans with local government. • The role requires someone with strong skills in water / floodplain
management who enjoys working collaboratively with councils, expert consultants and other stakeholders to develop innovative flood risk management strategies in consultation with local communities. • Be part of a highly skilled and dedicated water, floodplain and coastal team based in the Wollongong CBD.
Primary purpose of the role:
Work with councils and other stakeholders to reduce the impact of flooding on local communities and support the development and implementation of flood risk reduction measures with consideration to environment, social
and economic outcomes.
To apply, please visit https://jobsnsw.taleo.net/careersection/all_jobs/jobdetail.ftl?job=00004KKU&lang=en.
Applications
must address the selection criteria stated within the position description and be made online via the website by 12 September 2016.
If you are interested in promoting a vacant position with us,
contact us. GRADUATES SEEKING EMPLOYMENT The FMA is occasionally contacted by young professionals in fields related to flood risk management seeking introductions to potential employers.
If your business is seeking a new employee please contact us, we may know of someone suitable. UPCOMING EVENTS
The International Riversymposium, New Delhi, 12-14 September 2016
The International Emergency Management Society 2016 Annual Conference,
San Deigo, California, USA, 13-15 September 2016
FLOODRisk,
Lyon, France, 17-21 October 2016
ICFRIR 2016: 18th International Conference on Flood Recovery, Innovation, and Response, Paris, France, 24-25 October 2016
Water, Infrastructure and Environment- 56th New Zealand Hydrological Society, 37th Australian Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium, including 7th IPENZ Rivers Group, Queenstown, New Zealand, 28 November - 2 December
2016
FMA CAPS AROUND THE WORLD Where has your FMA Conference Cap been?
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Pictured: Geoffrey O'Loughlin (Anstad Pty Ltd) donning his FMA Cap during the 2016 Conference Field Trip, Nowra.
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Thanks for reading, and see you next month! P.S. HAVE YOU SAVED THE DATE FOR OUR 2017 CONFERENCE YET?
GO ON...YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!
If you found this Flyer interesting please forward it to a colleague, and suggest they sign up at floods.org.au to receive it directly in future. |
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