Council pouring millions into fixing city’s drainage issues

LISMORE City Council will pour $10 million into the Lismore Urban Stormwater Management Plan.

Installing new stormwater stencils in Goonellabah this week were Lismore City Council signs and line marking leading hand Neil Whiteman and skilled labourer Steve Murada (front) with Rous Water catchment assets manager Anthony Acret and Lismore City Council environmental strategies officer Anton Nguyen.

LISMORE City Council will pour $10 million into fixing flooding hotspots and improving water quality in the city limits.

The Lismore Urban Stormwater Management Plan, adopted by council this week, has been developed to ensure a holistic approach is taken to stormwater management. Projects include community education, policy development, maintenance and on-ground works targeting high-priority localised flooding, as well as the installation of stormwater treatment devices to prevent pollutants entering waterways.

The 10-year program is funded from council’s general fund and the Stormwater Management Service charge.

“We have identified and prioritised more than 43 projects to complete over the next 10 years,” environmental strategies officer Anton Nguyen said.

Casino St fixed

Localised flooding was identified as an issue in Casino St, South Lismore, during the plan’s development as the gradient on this section of road was not great enough for water to disperse. Pipes to improve drainage have now been installed during recent road works.

“Now that the localised flooding issue has been addressed it protects our road asset as well as providing better access to local homes,” Mr Nguyen said.

“Several projects within the plan aim to do the same in hotspots within the urban area where localised flooding occurs.”

The new stencils being placed on stormwater lintels throughout the Lismore urban area.

Stormwater signs

Council has also begun its stormwater stencilling partnership project with Rous Water. This project involves thousands of stormwater lintels in the urban area being stencilled with a public education message, encouraging people not to pollute waterways.

There are two messages – one specific to the Lismore urban area, reminding people that stormwater in this sub-catchment enters the Wilsons River drinking water supply, and the other in Goonellabah, indicating that run-off flows into Tucki Tucki Creek.

This creek is a sensitive ecosystem and one of only a few urban creeks in New South Wales that boasts a breeding platypus population and is home to a threatened species of fish.

Other upcoming projects in the plan include

> Developing detention basins in East Lismore to address localised flooding from stormwater run-off from East Lismore Golf Course during high rainfall.

> Browns Creek naturalisation project. This will improve the water quality of run-off passing through the concrete channels from Ballina Rd to Uralba St, through Lismore Park.

For a full list of projects, view the Lismore Urban Stormwater Management Plan at www.lismore.nsw.gov.au