MINUTE WITH THE MAYOR Ramon Jayo

I would like your opinion on an issue that arises every wet season, resulting in persuasive argument both for and against, and that is whether the Minor Flood Level classifications in the Herbert River should be changed to a higher level.  
Minor flooding is defined as ‘causes inconvenience’.  Low lying areas next to watercourses are inundated which may require the removal of stock and equipment.  Minor roads may be closed and low-level bridges submerged.
With the exception of the Dalrymple Bridge on Hawkins Creek Road, no inconvenience is caused anywhere along the Lower Herbert River at current minor flood level classifications. As an example, let’s look at the Abergowrie Bridge where the minor flood level is 6 metres.
The argument is that this criteria is not met at a river height of 6 metres, it comes into play at around the 8-9 metre mark.  The argument is that issuing the periodic notices and advanced warnings at 6 metres, when no inconvenience is occurring, causes people to ignore the warnings and to become complacent.
There have been 17 instances since January 2020 where the Minor Flood Level has been exceeded at Abergowrie Bridge.  Of these, 5 went on to rise further to moderate level.
Last year (2024) we recorded 7 exceedances of minor, with only one going on to exceed moderate.
On the other side of the coin, the argument is that you can never get enough notice of potential flooding.  It is also argued that the river, in some instances, can rise very rapidly between minor and major and increasing the minor level may result in insufficient or inadequate notice on some occasions.
Do you have a view?  If so, we would like to hear it.  Please email Council on council@hinchinbrook.qld.gov.au at your convenience.