Natural resource management group, Condamine Alliance, responded quickly to the floods, and have began negotiations for satellite flood imagery along the Condamine River.
The imagery will enable Condamine Alliance staff and partners to assess the damage the current flood is causing on the river and neighbouring areas.
“It may take a few days to capture the images, depending on cloud cover, but we know the value of these images, from similar ones captured after the 2010/11 floods,” said CEO, Phil McCullough.
“We have been checking in on our project partners and will be analysing the imagery to better understand how our catchment deals with floodwaters.”
Our Action on the Ground project has three cameras in the field capturing imagery every four hours – staff yesterday reviewed these images to determine what has happened in these areas.
“Our Water Team have been in contact with their infield partners and, at this stage, there is too much flooding to assess any damage, with water currently 3.67m over Loudoun Weir.
“As soon as the water levels drop, we will be checking in on the condition of Loudoun Weir and other key river sites to determine how they have held up.”
With funding of the Queensland Reconstruction Authority after the 2010/11 flood, Condamine Alliance has repaired five major gullies to use as demonstration sites of best practice in gully rehabilitation.
“We have spoken to the land managers at all five sites (Ramsay, Maryvale, Greenmount, Allora and Peranga) and all have stood up well.
“Maryvale looks to be the hardest hit, enduring at least a day-and-a-half of high flow, high intensity water, with only minor washout. We are excited about these early results and our project managers will check out each site individually as it becomes safe to do so.”
One Condamine Alliance project partner at Emu Vale has phoned to report that they have had 254mm (10 inches) of rain over the weekend, with water reaching 1.2m (4 feet) higher than the 2010/11 floods.
“There is still no access to determine how the creekside planting held up, but past experience indicates that they should be ok, as the pervious flood saw new planting submerged in floodwaters for four days and survive.
“As the water levels recede, we will be working with our parters to ensure support is offered, where possible.”
