For most residents in the Captains Flat township, the first warning they currently have of a flood occurring might be inundation of their property or losing access along roads.

We have received grant funding from the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) to help us develop a design for a Total Flood Warning System (TFWS) for Captains Flat.

Following options identification and selection, a draft design has been prepared, and we are now seeking the community’s feedback.

Council has consulted with relevant agencies during development of the draft design such as NSW SES, the Bureau of Meteorology, NSW Fire & Rescue and NSW Police.

What is a Total Flood Warning System?

A Total Flood Warning System is made up of interconnected components that must work together to be effective. It involves monitoring rainfall and river flows, predicting the timing and severity of floods, and interpreting likely community impacts. Clear warning messages are then constructed, communicated, and acted upon by agencies and the community, with the whole system reviewed after each event to improve future performance.

Design and Implementation

The design has been developed based on principles from the Australian Emergency Management Institute's guidelines.

Implementing a TFWS in Captains Flat is proposed to be completed in two phases. The second phase would only be implemented if/when additional data from Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) became available, and after assessing how the first phase is performing.

The two phases are summarised below:

Phase 1: system focuses on sensor measurements and weather forecasts. This would include installing new rainfall and water level gauges in the catchment. The TFWS would also use rainfall forecasts from the BoM to provide adequate warning time for floods. This phase would also include setting up data processing and IT systems to support the TFWS, allowing future upgrade to phase 2 if necessary.

Phase 2: Expansion to include a computer-based flood model that runs continuously to predict where flooding might happen, when it will start, which areas will be affected, and how deep the water could get. This is expected to make the warnings more detailed and reliable.

For both phases, flood warnings from the TFWS would be sent to the SES for review and distribution to the community.

  • The total estimated installation costs range from $182,500 to $215,000 for Phase 1 and between $75,000 to $145,000 for Phase 2.

Have your say

The design of the Captains Flat Total Flood Warning System is open for community comment from Monday 15 September to Monday 13 October 2025. This can also be viewed:

  1. At Council’s Customer Service Centres, between 9am and 4pm Monday to Friday

Feedback can be provided on the draft Policy through:

  1. Completing an Online Submission Form (below)
  2. Emailing it directly to council@qprc.nsw.gov.au with the subject title "Design Captains Flat Total Flood Warning System"
  3. Hand writing your submission and delivering it to Council's Customer Service Centres
  4. Posting your submission to PO Box 90, Queanbeyan NSW 2620
Only written submissions will be considered and these must be received by Council before Monday 13 October 2025. Any submissions received may be included in the final report to Council.