Lismore $10 million CSIRO NRRA flood study at moot point

Elections and bureaucrats have been blamed for the delay in an urgent flood study. Now Lismore mayor says the backlog puts rebuilding Lismore into doubt. Read what happened.

A vital contract is yet to be signed in a Lismore Flood Mitigation Study, stalling the start of investigations into how another flooding disaster can be reduced.

It is understood residents in flood affected areas are still waiting on a contract to be signed between two commonwealth organisations, CSIRO and the National Recovery and Resilience Agency.

A $10 million CSIRO flood mitigation study was announced shortly after Lismore’s devastating 2022 floods to investigate possible solutions to widespread Wilsons and Richmond River catchment flooding.

The study is to be followed by $75 million in funding to implement the changes for flood-affected areas in NSW.

However it seems a bureaucratic hold up between the two Commonwealth bodies have stalled the commencement of studies.

A National Recovery and Resilience Agency spokesperson said the election had been the cause of the delay in signing a contract with CSIRO.

“Although the caretaker period of Government has resulted in a delay in signing the contract, planning has been progressing on the project and the National Recovery and Resilience Agency is working closely with Australia’s national science agency CSIRO, to finalise the terms of reference and contractual arrangements to ensure the appropriate outcomes deliver the right solutions for the region,” a NRRA spokesperson said.

Federal MP Kevin Hogan said he had asked CSIRO and the National Recovery and Resilience Agency to get started “as quickly as they can” at a press conference on Tuesday.

“Yep, I’ve asked them and I’ve asked those bureaucrats to get moving on that and sign that as quickly as they can,” he said.

“Please go and ask the head of the NRRA why he hasn’t already done that.

“I’m not happy about it either. I share your frustration on that one.”

Mr Hogan partially led the announcement of the CSIRO study back in March.

At the time, he said that “for too long” Lismore councils had debated the merits of flood mitigation.

“Today that debate is done,” he said.

“CSIRO will do the modelling and their findings will be implemented.”

Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg, who was at the joint event on Tuesday, said he was unaware of the study’s delay.

“We were promised preliminary outcomes within six months eight weeks ago, I would have thought they were well underway,” he said.

“That’s crap to be honest with you.

“We need to get these things rolling, people need to be able to rebuild and reinvest with some level of confidence and if we don’t have these things in place how can we do that?”

The study was the basis of some discontent within the community with former mayor Vanessa Ekins saying six strategies that could be implemented to mitigate minor to moderate flooding were ready to be funded.

“It is an insult to this community,” she said in March.

“I’m upset Kevin Hogan has put $10 million on the table for more studies because it’s false hope, we don’t need anymore money for studies.”