Be Flood Aware

Occasionally, certain areas in the Scenic Rim region are subject to flooding. Council has undertaken flood modelling to seek to identify areas in the region that are subject to riverine flooding and ensure that if these flood events occurs, we are well-informed and ready to take action.

Council has produced region-wide riverine flood mapping to assist the community's understanding of the flood risk to the region as a whole. These region-wide flood maps can be viewed at Riverine Flood Mapping. 

The flood studies for the major catchments in the region adopted by Council at its Planning and Development Committee Meeting of 20 March 2018 are downloadable as listed in the following table

* nb: Please note the above links to the Logan River Flood Study are broken down into three parts because of file size limitations to be able to display and download from the website

At Council's Ordinary Meeting of 19 August 2019, the Canungra Creek and Biddaddaba Creek Flood Study was adopted:

Further, at Council's Ordinary Meeting of Tuesday 23 February 2021 the Refined Flood Study for the Canungra Township was adopted. This flood study was further updated to include a more suitable 'roughness' level and the updated study was adopted at Council's Ordinary meeting on 26 April 2022. The refined flood study for the township area (defined by the Shaping SEQ South East Queensland Regional Plan Urban Footprint boundary) further refines the 2019 Canungra Creek and Biddaddaba Creek Flood Study to reflect ground level changes from recent development and applies a finer grid to provide a more accurate indication of the flood risk.

* The Updated Canungra Township Detailed Flood Study information and Veresdale Flood Study information will be incorporated in the Scenic Rim Planning Scheme 2020 through a Minor Amendment to update the Flood Hazard Overlay Maps (OM-06-A and OM-06-B).

At Council's Ordinary Meeting on 26 April 2022, the Veresdale Flood Study was adopted.

Riverine Flood Mapping

Important Things to Know About Council's Flood Mapping

The flood mapping shows key waterways of the region that are potentially impacted by primarily riverine flooding. Riverine flooding occurs when excessive rainfall over an extended period of time causes a waterway to exceed its capacity resulting in flood waters spilling over  its waterway banks and causing inundation.

Council's riverine flood mapping does not include all waterways. There may be small waterways, in particular intermittent waterways, that are not fully included in Council's flood models. These small waterways may experience flash flooding, causing short term overland flooding.

The flood mapping does not include local flooding. Local flooding is an intense burst of rainfall over a short period of time that may cause excessive run-off that builds up in a confined area and causes localised flooding. Inundation is expected to last only for a limited period of time until the run-off is able to drain away.

Council's flood mapping and local flood inundation is based on the 1% Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP) event with an additional climate change factor. An 1% AEP flood event represents a flood that has a 1% chance of being equalled or exceeded in any year. Whilst the 1% AEP flood event is commonly used for urban planning purposes as the line of acceptable risk, there is always a possibility of having rainfalls beyond that contemplated by the 1% AEP event that may exceed the designated flood level. Rainfall events which cause floods are random and there is no guarantee when such a flood will occur, that it won't be much larger, or that it will only occur once in any year.

Council's flood mapping has been informed via flood models. A flood model is a computer simulation of a river or floodplain system to determine the magnitude, extent and depth of flooding; how fast floodwaters rise; and the implications for flood damage and emergency planning. As with all flood models, Council's flood models are an estimation of the flood event that is projected or anticipated to occur. The models are based on science, but similar to weather forecasting, flood modelling is not an exact science. It is instead an educated, fact-based indication of the likely outcome of particular rainfall events in specific catchment conditions. To improve the accuracy of Council's flood models, Council has compared the model outputs with historic flood events recorded across the catchments in the region.

Council has undertaken flood modelling of the key waterways of the region based on the 1% AEP event, with an additional climate change factor, which is shown in dark blue in the riverine flood mapping. There may be minor waterways not included in the flood mapping, in particular in the upper reaches of the catchments. The flood mapping contained within this website has also included State government mapping, shown in light blue, where this mapping is available. This information may include or be accompanied by specific disclaimers or limitations. Those disclaimers and limitations apply in addition to those outlined above.

Be Flood Aware

It is everybody's responsibility to be aware of the risks and what to do in a flood emergency. Check the flood risk to your property by clicking on the link to the riverine flood mapping. If all or part of your property is shown as blue in the flood maps, it has been identified as at risk of being impacted by riverine flooding. To gain a clearer understanding of flooding hazard in the region, Council encourages you to review the Flood Hazard Overlay mapping OM-06 (visit the online mapping tool or Schedule 2 of the Scenic Rim Planning Scheme) and the Planning for the Risk of Riverine Flooding in the Region Factsheet, or contact Council's Planning Section on 5440 5111. 

Fact sheets

Council's Disaster Management page provides important information about preparing for an emergency. It is important to be prepared for emergencies and you will need a plan for you and your family (including pets and livestock).

Disaster Management