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Floodplain management plans per valley

Border Rivers Valley floodplain

The Floodplain Management Plan for the Border Rivers Valley Floodplain commenced on 11 September 2020.

View of Georges River at Georges River National Park Picnic Point, Sydney.

About the plan

The Floodplain Management Plan for the Border Rivers Valley Floodplain 2020 (plan) commenced on 11 September 2020 and includes management zones, rules and assessment criteria for granting or amending approvals for flood works within the plan area.

Information on the plan, including amendments made in June 2024, is available for viewing as described below.

Floodplain management plan

Border Rivers Management Zones map

The Floodplain Management Plan for the Border Rivers Valley Floodplain 2020 is a detailed legal instrument written in the required statutory framework.

Maps

The following maps are included within the plan and are available for download.

You can view the plan boundary, management zones and ecological assets as a spatial map.

You can also find the floodplain management plan spatial dataset on the NSW Government’s SEED portal for use in your own geographic information system.

Rules and assessment criteria

An overview of the key factors, rules and assessment criteria for each management zone is provided in the summary sheets which are available for download below. The summary sheets are included as a guide only.

The plan includes a transitional provision to mitigate any disadvantage applicants may face as a result of significant delays in the assessment of the flood work applications around the time the plan commenced. More information about this transitional provision is available in a fact sheet (PDF, 108.03 KB).

The rules for enhancement flood works in each of the northern floodplain management plans changed on 21 June 2024. Read a summary of the amendments (PDF, 132.83 KB).

For more information about how floodplain management plans work and the planning process refer to Developing floodplain management plans.

Plan status

The plan commenced on 11 September 2020 and is due for replacement on 30 June 2031.

Amendments to the plan came into effect on 21 June 2024. You can find the amendment order and current version of the plan on the NSW Legislation website.

Community consultation

The department road tested the major concepts of the plan with key stakeholders during a targeted (informal) consultation process over the period Wednesday, 3 August 2016 to Wednesday, 14 September 2016. Stakeholders from a range of industry groups—including landholders, Aboriginal communities, environmental interests, consultants and government—were invited to attend workshops in Goondiwindi and Mungindi. These workshops introduced attendees to the main elements of the draft plan, including the boundary, management zones, and the rules for granting or amending flood work approvals.

The feedback received from targeted consultation was considered by an Interagency Regional Panel prior to the preparation of the plan for public exhibition.

Community input into the preparation of the plan was invited during public exhibition over the period Friday 15 December 2017 to Friday 9 March 2018. The department invited input via a media release, the Have Your Say portal, newspaper advertisements and notification letters to key stakeholders and landholders whose properties within Management Zones A and D within the plan area. The department also hosted individual appointments with interested stakeholders to provide greater detail about how the rules and assessment criteria would be applied in each management zone. Appointments were hosted in Boggabilla, Goondiwindi, Boomi and Mungindi in February and March 2018.

A total of 15 submissions were received during the public exhibition period. The main areas of concern identified in the submissions were the location of the draft management zones, the inclusion of specific approved flood works within the draft management zones and the thresholds described within the draft assessment criteria. All submissions were considered by an Interagency Regional Panel and minor refinements were made to the draft management zones (where the changes were supported by the management zone method including hydraulic, ecological, cultural and/or existing planning arrangements criteria).

Supporting documents

Assistance

If you require assistance in reading these documents, please contact 1300 081 047 or water.enquiries@dpie.nsw.gov.au

Spatial map disclaimer

The spatial maps of floodplain management zones contained on this website (“Spatial Maps”) are produced for information purposes only. The authorised versions of the maps contained in floodplain management plans are published on the NSW legislation website.

The State of New South Wales, including the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (“the department”), does not give any warranty, guarantee or representation about the accuracy, currency or completeness of any information contained in the Spatial Maps (including, without limitation, any information included in the Spatial Maps which was provided by third parties). The State of New South Wales (including the department) provides the Spatial Maps without assumption of a duty of care to any person.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the State of New South Wales (including the department) excludes all liability in relation to the information contained in the Spatial Maps or for any injury, expense loss, or damage whatsoever (including without limitation liability for negligence and consequential losses) suffered or incurred by any person acting, or purporting to act in reliance upon any information contained herein.

Applicants for flood work approvals use the Spatial Maps at their own risk when making decisions relating to the Spatial Maps. They should make their own enquiries with the department to confirm the impact of management zones on their application.