Northern Grampians Shire Council

Northern Grampians Shire Council has a long history of flooding including a significant flood event most recently in January 2011. This impacted the areas of Glenorchy, Halls Gap and Dadswells Bridge and vast extents of rural areas resulting in extensive damage through Navarre, Landsborough, Eversley, Crowlands, Joel Joel, Greens Creek and Campbell’s Bridge.

The key waterways which impact Northern Grampians Shire Council are the Wimmera River and Mt William Creek including the flood event of January 2011.

The lead time to respond to a flood event may be limited. All households and businesses at risk of flooding should develop an emergency plan and beware of their flood risk.

Households and business should refer to their Local Flood Guide or the Northern Grampians Shire Flood Emergency Plan for more information.

Are you at risk of flood?

There are many homes and farming properties at risk of flooding along the Wimmera River and in
the Glenorchy township. Flooding is most likely to occur in Glenorchy when:

• The catchment/ground is saturated from previous rainfall and further rainfall occurs, causing flooding from the Wimmera River.

• Floodwater breaks out from a stream on the east side of town, runs under the railway embankment bridges, and then flows to the Wimmera River through the township. When this happens, you will see water crossing the Glenorchy-Campbell Bridge Road.

Areas along the Wimmera River in and around Glenorchy that are most at risk of flooding are the low lying areas of Carfrae, Marl, Forest, Arapiles, Bunbury and Cameron Streets and rural farms.

The map to the right shows a 1% AEP flood means that there is a 1% chance of a flood this size or larger occurring in any given year.

There are five river gauges along various waterways upstream of Glenorchy (see gauges link). River gauges monitor river levels and may be used to predict flood events and levels for downstream properties and communities. Some river gauges have flood class levels of minor, moderate and major established, such as the Wimmera River at Glenorchy Gauge, while others show river height in metres (m).