The Department of Environment and Resource Management should prepare formal work procedures for the review of flood event reports created under emergency action plans and flood mitigation manuals.

The Queensland Fire and Rescue Service should require that each region records in writing the results of its risk assessment undertaken as part of its annual review of its special operations functional plan.

The Queensland Government should include in the model flood planning controls a model flood overlay code that consolidates assessment criteria relating to flood.

The Queensland Government should consider drafting assessment criteria to be included in the model flood planning controls which require that works in a floodplain: • do not reduce on-site flood storage capacity • counteract any changes the works will cause to flood behaviour of all floods up to

Councils should consider amending their planning schemes to include provisions directed to consideration of the flood resilience of basements as a factor in determining the appropriateness of a material change of use.

The Queensland Government should consider whether to empower Seqwater, through the flood operations centre, to direct CS Energy to stop or delay releases from Splityard Creek Dam where a flood event is declared under the Manual of Operational Procedures for Flood Mitigation at Wivenhoe Dam and So

By reference to the order of priority determined in accordance with recommendation 2.5, the Queensland Government and councils should together ensure that the council responsible for each urban area in Queensland has access to current flood study information. This will include determining: a.

The Queensland Government should determine, as far as possible, the impact of mine discharges during the 2010/2011 wet season on freshwater and marine water quality and fauna and flora.

If the Queensland Government does not include such assessment criteria in the model flood planning controls, councils should consider including assessment criteria in their planning schemes that address: • the prospect of isolation or hindered evacuation • the impact of isolation or hindered evac

The Queensland Government should determine whether existing guidelines are sufficient for councils to understand best practice in the performance of flood studies and the production of flood maps.

The Department of Transport and Main Roads, in conjunction with Brisbane City Council and Somerset Regional Council, should investigate options for the upgrade of Brisbane River crossings between Wivenhoe Dam and Colleges Crossing and undertake a cost-benefit analysis of these to determine the ou

Seqwater should ensure that proper support and oversight mechanisms are put in place around both the substantive and procedural aspects of drafting flood event reports.

The Queensland Government should include in the model flood planning controls a model planning scheme policy that: • for development proposed on land susceptible to flooding, outlines what additional information an applicant should provide to the assessment manager as part of the development appl

The Queensland Government should consider amending the Sustainable Planning Regulation 2009 so that operational work or plumbing or drainage work (including maintenance and repair work) carried out by or on behalf of a public sector entity authorised under a state law to carry out the work is not

In assessing and determining development applications for material change of use in areas susceptible to flood, councils should consider whether the new developments locate essential services infrastructure above basement level, or, alternatively, whether essential services infrastructure located

Councils and the Queensland Government should display on their websites all flood mapping they have commissioned or adopted.

The Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation should assemble all information currently available to the abandoned mine land program into a single database.

If the Queensland Government does not include such a policy in the model flood planning controls, councils should include a planning scheme policy in their planning schemes that sets out the information to be provided in development applications in relation to stormwater and flooding.

The Department of Environment and Resource Management should prepare a list of relevant considerations to be taken into account in performing a risk assessment to decide which sites to inspect. Bureau of Meteorology forecasts should be one consideration.

As part of the longer term review of the Manual of Operational Procedures for Flood Mitigation at Wivenhoe Dam and Somerset Dam, the Queensland Government should consider the impact of possible upgrades of bridges downstream of Wivenhoe Dam on different operating strategies for the dam.

The Department of Environment and Resource Management should ensure that an independent and appropriately qualified person immediately starts the task of reviewing the March flood event report to ensure that the review is completed before the start of the 2012/2013 wet season.

For urban areas or areas where development is expected to occur: a. councils with the requisite resources should develop a flood map which shows ‘zones of risk’ (at least three) derived from information about the likelihood and behaviour of flooding b.

If the Queensland Government does not include such a policy in the model flood planning controls, councils should include in their planning schemes a planning scheme policy that: • for development proposed on land susceptible to flooding, outlines what additional information an applicant should p

Levees should be regulated.

The Queensland Government should draft assessment criteria to be included in the model flood planning controls that require critical infrastructure in assessable substation developments is built to remain operational during and immediately after a flood of a particular magnitude.

The Queensland Government should consider measures to ensure that requirements are included in the designation of land for community infrastructure under the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 to ensure that critical infrastructure for operating works under the Electricity Act is built to remain opera

Flood maps, and property specific flooding information intended for use by the general public, should be readily interpretable and should, where necessary, be accompanied by a comprehensible explanatory note.

The Queensland Government should seek information about the size, features and condition of abandoned mines, including whether the mine or its surrounding environment were adversely affected by flood, from private landholders who have abandoned mines on their properties.

Councils should review their assessment processes to ensure that: • the person with primary responsibility for the assessment of the development application considers what expert input is required • where a development application is subject to comment by a number of professionals, the responsibi

The Department of Environment and Resource Management should conduct risk assessments in time for site inspections, and the implementation of solutions to problems identified at inspections, to take place before 1 November of each year.

The Queensland Government should, in consultation with the Department of Environment and Resource Management and Emergency Management Queensland, determine which agency is appropriate to review and approve emergency action plans for referable dams.

Seqwater should ensure that any future peer review process: • is co-ordinated by someone independent of those who wrote the report • entails the provision of all relevant information to the peer reviewers • permits sufficient time for the review • documents all contact between those whose actions

If the Queensland Development Code is amended to include provisions requiring homeowners to install sewage reflux valves, the Queensland Government should develop and make available to homeowners appropriate guidance material to assist them in meeting their responsibilities to maintain reflux val

For non-urban areas or areas where limited development is expected to occur councils should consider, on a risk basis, what level of information about flood risk is required for the area, and undertake the highest ranked of the following options which is appropriate to that need and within the ca

The Queensland Government should consider amending the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 to expressly provide either a power to remake or a power to extend a temporary local planning instrument containing interim flood regulation for a further limited period. The power to remake or extend should: a.

The Queensland Government should consult with councils to determine an effective method for the regulation of the construction of levees in Queensland.

If the Queensland Government does not include such assessment criteria in the model flood planning controls, councils should include assessment criteria in their planning schemes that require critical infrastructure in assessable substation developments is built to remain operational during and i

Electricity distributors should consider installing connection points for generators to provide electricity supply to non-flooded areas that have had their supply cut during floods.

Queensland Urban Utilities, and other distributor-retailers and councils, that have identified a practice of stormwater drains being connected to sewerage infrastructure, should conduct a program of education to raise public awareness that this practice is illegal and impedes the operation of the

As far as is practicable, councils should maintain up-to-date flood information

The Queensland Government should resolve the discrepancy in recorded peak river height for the January 2011 flood of the Brisbane River between the Brisbane City and Port Office gauges.

Councils should take care when imposing conditions to ensure that each condition has purpose; standardised conditions should not be included where they have no application to the development in question.

The Department of Environment and Resource Management should assist mine operators in their applications for amended environmental authorities to ensure, as far as possible, that each environmental authority contains a tailored version of Table 4 of the model conditions.

The Department of Environment and Resource Management and Emergency Management Queensland should ensure that each has copies of current emergency action plans for all dams in Queensland.

Seqwater should, in creating the new Wivenhoe and North Pine flood mitigation manuals, comprehensively consider: • the amount of discretion that is able to be exercised by the flood engineers and the senior flood engineers, and the description of the circumstances in which such discretion may be

Councils should support and encourage business owners to develop private flood evacuation plans by providing the following to business owners in areas known to be affected by flood: • information about the benefits of evacuation plans • contact details of relevant council and emergency service pe

Councils should ensure that areas for which there has been no assessment of the likelihood of flooding are indicated on a map and that, as part of the development assessment process for these, there is at least some enquiry into whether a site proposed for development could be subject to flooding

The Queensland Government should consider allowing councils to amend a planning scheme to update existing flood mapping information by way of the minor amendment process, provided that adequate public consultation has occurred.

The Queensland Government should consult with councils to formulate a definition of ‘levee’ to identify what should be regulated.

The Queensland Government should consider whether there should be a legislative requirement that customer dedicated assets be built at or above the applicable defined flood level and if so, the Queensland Government should consider which legislation should contain such a requirement.

The Queensland Government should consider implementing mandatory requirements to ensure that all conduits for the purpose of providing electrical supply below the applicable defined flood level are sealed to prevent floodwaters from entering them or flowing into them.

Councils should conduct education campaigns directed to ensuring that all residents and property owners in areas identified as being at risk of backflow flooding are aware of the circumstances in which backflow flooding can occur, the hazard it presents and what should be done if it occurs.

Elected representatives from councils should be informed of the results of each flood study relevant to the council’s region, and consider the ramifications of the study for land planning and emergency management.

The steering committees of the Wivenhoe Dam and Somerset Dam Optimisation Study and the North Pine Dam Optimisation Study should consider removing the water supply security investigation from each study.

Councils should not rely on a condition requiring an evacuation plan as the sole basis for approving a development susceptible to flooding.

Unless the Department of Environment and Resource Management has decided not to permit discharges, it should assist each mine operator in its application for an environmental authority to ensure, as far as possible, that each authority includes provisions for discharges during times of heavy rain

Seqwater should consider commissioning an investigation into the extent of cracking below the level of the upper gallery of Somerset Dam and the impact of any such cracking on the dam’s stability and, in turn, its operation.

Councils should consider making available to business owners locality specific information that would assist them to develop evacuation plans for commercial premises, for example, any evacuation sub-plan created under Emergency Management Queensland’s disaster evacuation guidelines.

Councils that do not currently do so should consider offering an online database which allows the public to conduct a search on a parcel of land to find development approvals relevant to that parcel of land.

The Queensland Government should consider amending the Urban Land Development Authority Act 2007, the South Bank Corporation Act 1989, the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 insofar as it governs state development areas, and other legislation which establishes alternative pl

There should be a consistent process for the determination of applications to build levees.

Queensland Rail and QR National should continue to investigate opportunities for increasing the flood resilience of their networks, including raising the height of critical equipment.

CS Energy should put in place contingency measures to ensure email and telephone communications at Wivenhoe Power Station are not entirely dependent on a network located off-site.

The Queensland Government should legislate to clarify the purposes for which a transitional environmental program can be granted.

Councils and distributor-retailers should agree to protocols for the exchange of information about suspected illegal connections, the steps being taken to investigate them or the basis for concluding that no investigation is required, and the results of any investigations or enforcement actions.<

Elected representatives from all agencies involved in a flood study should be informed of recommendations made for future work, and determine, on a risk basis, whether that further work is to be completed.

The steering committee of the North Pine Dam Optimisation Study should consider whether it would be beneficial for the floodplain management investigation to be removed from the North Pine Dam Optimisation Study.

Councils should consider providing advice to development applicants during pre-lodgement meetings, and at the time of receiving a development application, about the way in which the development will be assessed for flood risk and what flood information council will be relying on to make this asse

The Queensland Government should refine the criteria which must be considered in assessment of applications for relaxation of environmental authority conditions, by transitional environmental program or otherwise, in response to flood.

Prior to each wet season, the Department of Environment and Resource Management should audit the compliance of each owner of a referable dam with the obligation to have an emergency action plan approved by the Queensland Government.

The Queensland Government should consider implementing a mechanism by which prospective purchasers of property are alerted to the issue of flood risk.

The Coordinator-General should amend the guideline for preparing an ‘initial advice statement’ for a significant project under the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 so that it specifically requires an applicant to consider and provide information about the project’s flood r

There should be a common set of considerations in the decision whether to approve an application to build a levee, including: • the impacts of the proposed levee on the catchment as a whole • the benefits of the proposed levee to the individual or entity applying to build the levee and to any nea

The Queensland Government should consider amending the Environmental Protection Act 1994 so that it allows for the relaxation of environmental authority conditions, by transitional environmental program or otherwise, as to discharge of water: • pre-emptively, in advance of rainfall or flooding ev

Councils in floodplain areas should, resources allowing, develop comprehensive floodplain management plans that accord as closely as practicable with best practice principles.

The conditions for the use of a particular strategy in all flood mitigation manuals should reflect objective standards.

The Bundaberg Regional Council should investigate the adequacy of the drain and take reasonable steps to ensure the Moore Park area is effectively served.

The Queensland Government should prepare a procedural guide for officers deciding whether to grant a relaxation of environmental authority conditions, by transitional environmental program or otherwise, with guidance as to: • the meaning of each criterion • examples of the types of things that ma

The Department of Environment and Resource Management should prioritise dam safety audits according to risk.

The Queensland Government should: a. narrow the definition of ‘development commitment’ in State Planning Policy 1/03: Mitigating the Adverse Impacts of Flood, Bushfire and Landslide to ensure more development applications are assessed for compatibility with flood, and b.

The Queensland Government should consider extending the application of a state planning policy dealing with flood to the types of community infrastructure which are identified in the Sustainable Planning Regulation 2009 and which the community needs to continue functioning, notwithstanding flood.

The Queensland Government should draft assessment criteria to be included in the model flood planning controls that address: • the prospect of isolation or hindered evacuation • the impact of isolation or hindered evacuation.

The Queensland Government should consider amending the Environmental Protection Act 1994 to provide a definition of the term ‘emergency’ for the purposes of section 468 of that Act.

Councils should, resources allowing, maintain flood maps and overland flow path maps for use in development assessment.

The steering committee of the Wivenhoe Dam and Somerset Dam Optimisation Study should consider whether it would be more effective for the floodplain management investigation to be removed from the Wivenhoe Dam and Somerset Dam Optimisation Study.

If the Queensland Government does not include a requirement for such an overlay map in the model flood planning controls, councils should include a flood overlay map in their planning schemes.

The Department of Environment and Resource Management should require Wide Bay Water, in advance of every wet season, to provide details of its expectation as to the operability of the crest gates if a flood occurs, until such time as all gates have been demonstrated to work as designed.

All councils should periodically conduct risk assessments to identify areas at risk of backflow flooding. In respect of such areas, councils should consider how such risks can be lessened, including in that process consideration of the installation of backflow prevention devices.

The Queensland Government should make public the procedural guide used by Department of Environment and Resource Management officers to decide whether to grant a transitional environmental program.

If, as part of a state interest review process, the Department of Local Government and Planning decides that no condition should be imposed requiring a council’s proposed planning scheme to incorporate the effect of the Department of Community Safety’s comments about State Planning Policy 1/03: M

The Queensland Government should draft assessment criteria to be included in the model flood planning controls that require community infrastructure (including the types of community infrastructure which are identified in the Sustainable Planning Regulation 2009 and which the community needs to c

The Queensland Government should draft a model planning scheme policy to be included in the model flood planning controls that sets out the information to be provided in development applications in relation to stormwater and flooding.

SunWater and the Central Highlands Regional Council should determine the issues of ownership and responsibility for maintenance of the LN1 drain system in Emerald.

The fire service should ensure that station officers are familiar with the procedure for contacting management when requesting the calling in of additional staff; and, in particular, that they have available to them the names and current telephone numbers of the officers to be contacted in the fi

The Queensland Government should amend the Environmental Protection Act 1994 so as to permit an emergency direction to be given orally where it is not practicable to provide the direction in writing, with provision for its subsequent confirmation in writing

Councils should make their flood and overland flow maps and models available to applicants for development approvals, and to consultants engaged by applicants.

Brisbane City Council, Ipswich City Council and Somerset Regional Council and the Queensland Government should ensure that, as soon as practicable, a flood study of the Brisbane River catchment is completed in accordance with the process determined by them under recommendation 2.5 and 2.6.

If the Queensland Government does not include such a code in the model flood planning controls, councils should include in their planning schemes a flood overlay code that consolidates assessment criteria relating to flood.

Councils should consider implementing a property buy-back program in areas that are particularly vulnerable to regular flooding, as part of a broader floodplain management strategy, where possible obtaining funding from the Natural Disaster Resilience Program for this purpose.

The Queensland Government should make public the procedural guide used by Department of Environment and Resource Management officers to decide whether to grant an emergency direction.