Nature-based solutions for Northern Rivers flood mitigation

Members of I2S are collaborating with communities in the northern rivers NSW to understand the multiple benefits from “Nature-based Solutions” for flood mitigation.

Dr Ruth O’Connor from I2S recently visited Lismore in northern NSW  with colleagues Assoc Prof Roslyn Prinsley and Dr Jason Alexandra to run discussions about how communities value alternatives to traditional “grey” infrastructure to help manage flooding.

The multi-disciplinary team from across the ANU is partnering with Richmond Landcare who have been doing small scale intensive re-vegetation in the upper catchment. Workshop participants from local government, community groups, Indigenous organisations and landholders highlighted different perspectives about the value of this work. Floodplain farmers can see opportunities for improved productivity through drought resilience and reduced erosion. Those from Indigenous organisations took a more holistic perspective of NbS as part of “caring for country as country cares for us”. Others valued the collaborative nature of regeneration, the building of social ties and local understanding of how catchments work.

The field trip was part of a project “Conserving and reconnecting floodplains to mitigate flood risk” funded by Natural Hazards Research Australia. The project team are modelling the impact of different types of NbS such as riparian and floodplain plantings and wetlands on flood levels. An important aspect of these approaches are the range of environmental, social and economic “co-benefits” nature-inspired interventions can achieve over and above reducing flooding.

The workshop provided an opportunity for these different perspectives to be shared and heard and will inform our future case study analyses.