A'Becketts Creek Flood Study

The NSW Government requires that local Councils manage the risk of flooding within their Local Government Area (LGA). More details about these requirements can be found here.

Collecting information is the first step in understanding local flood risk.

A flood study looks at the current risk and also future flood risks including those that may result from climate change.

Council will use the information it gathers to create flood models capable of predicting water movement in various sizes of flood, from smaller rainfall events up to the probable maximum flood (PMF) level.

There have been several flood studies completed in the City of Parramatta. The one for A’Becketts Creek was undertaken some time ago and needs to be updated to meet with current flood risk management requirements.

Updated flood modelling guidance and techniques, as well as new technology, allows the City of Parramatta to predict flood extents, potential hazards and risk for a wide range of flood levels from small rainfall events up to the probable maximum flood (PMF) level.

In addition, previous flood studies have only covered flooding from rivers and creeks. However, new techniques allow us to investigate, and model, flooding from stormwater drainage and overland flow i.e. fields, adjacent property, roads etc.

Benefits provided by the new flood study include:

• Providing Council with an understanding of flood behaviour across its catchment areas to enable appropriate management of flood risk for existing and future development.
• Helping landowners understand their flood risk so they can be better prepared for flooding. 
• Helping emergency services (e.g. NSW State Emergency Services (SES) and Police) understand the impacts on people’s safety when various levels of flooding occur
• Providing FloodSmart Parramatta the information it needs to provide your community with flood warnings.

If you recevied a letter in the mail regarding this project, it does not mean your property is flood prone or will be identified as flood affected.

However, you can find out about your specific property’s flood risk by requesting a flood enquiry application pack here or by calling the City of Parramatta Customer Contact Centre on 1300 617 058.

When rain falls, it finds the quickest way to the river, sometimes this means going through normally dry land or along roads and paths. If the amount of water is higher than the usual capacity of the route, or debris blocks one of these routes it can cause flooding at a local level that is not expected. 

This often happens when a lot of rain falls in a very short amount of time overloading our systems, or if the ground is very wet already and further rain falls.

The insurance industry already has a good understanding of flood risk across the Parramatta Local Government Area and property insurance premiums are set accordingly.

House prices are largely based on the size and presentation of the house, demand from people wanting to live in the area, and the economic conditions at the time of sale. 

However, all landowners with properties at risk of flooding should consider flood insurance and discuss this with their insurance provider.

All submissions will be treated confidentially. The information you provide will only be used to improve our understanding of flood risk. Personal contact details will not be shared outside of this project and no information will be disclosed publicly or provided to any other parties.

To book a 15-minute appointment with our Flood Team to discuss this survey and/or flooding at your home, please click here.

For help filling out this survey or for more information on this project, please call the City of Parramatta on 1300 617 058 and ask to speak with the A’Becketts Creek project team.

You can also email the team via floodsmart@cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au