10-Jan-2012

Tuesday the 10th January marked the one year anniversary of the devastating floods in South East Queensland (SEQ), and many communities gathered together to remember those who lost their lives and were severely impacted. Listen to SEQ Catchments CEO Simon Warner's radio interview on ABC Queensland Country Hour.

With many losing their homes as well as their livelihoods, the impacts of the floods are still being felt and will be for some time to come.

SEQ Catchments has been involved from the start, setting up assessment teams across the region which responded to over 200 calls for assistance following the floods. We provided detailed advice to the Queensland Government and assistance to local governments as well as directly to landholders. We have also made submissions to the Flood Commission and look forward to the Commission’s report in the next couple of months.

12 months later and SEQ Catchments has positioned itself at the forefront of flood recovery works, partnering with the Queensland Government, local councils and community members to improve the conditions of local waterways across SEQ but primarily in the Lockyer Catchment where so much of the damage occurred.

Early emergency funding from the Australian Government allowed us to get moving quickly and with the assistance of DEEDI provide much needed support to local communities in the upper Lockyer as well as in Esk, and the Pine River catchment. Later funding from Caring for Our Country and DERM allowed us to start on rehabilitation work, however there is much still to be done. Our colleagues from the Southern Rivers CMA in NSW provided invaluable support and were typical of the generosity of people all around Australia to the people of SEQ.

The Queensland Government, through the Queensland Reconstruction Authority, recently provided $2.17 million funding for flood recovery work and SEQ Catchments is working with Lockyer Valley Regional Council, Somerset Regional Council and Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) to plan and oversee delivery of the works.

For the most badly affected landholders, SEQ Catchments has sought opportunities to work directly with landholders to help get farms productive again, whilst also undertaking watercourse restoration works to make the land more resilient to future flooding.

We and the community have learnt much from this event and we are keen to see better management of our streams and flood plains in the future. The Science forum we co-hosted in September identified the need for better data and coordination and clearly identified better managed streams and resilient catchments would have a positive mitigating effect on floods in the future as well as the downstream impacts especially in Moreton Bay.

The staff of SEQ Catchments took their role as part of the community of SEQ to heart and their dedication and perseverance through this difficult year has been an inspiration. Regional bodies across Queensland have shown the value they add to their communities particularly in times of crisis.