GIS Crucial to Australian Flood Response

A leading water management adviser in Australia has said that the use of mapping and surveying technology is crucial to help the country protect itself against frequent severe floods, reports Doug Murphy of SurveyEquipment.com.

Georgina Race, spatial analyst at Flood Prevention Experts, told an audience of 200 spatial professionals in Melbourne that GIS technology must become integral flooding event preparation and response.

This past year, heavy rainfall has caused flooding in several regions in Australia, necessitating mass evacuations and costing hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance claims.

Australian Army Captain Charlie Mansfield, Lance Corporal Ken Leahy and Sapper John Wainwright help remove debris from the Balonne River bridge in St George, Queensland.

“GIS technology enables us to map the massive amounts of data that must be taken into consideration when projecting the outcome of large rainfall events,” she said. “This data includes land elevation and characteristics, past flood levels, infrastructure building information and seawater levels. The technology brings all this information together and allows us to run modelling of the impacts of various rainfall scenarios — such as storm events, sea level rises and even new building and infrastructure developments — to understand the level of inundation that may take place.”

Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced in February that the federal government will invest $100 million over two years into flood mitigation projects to help reduce flood risk and bring about reductions in insurance premiums.