Special Rate Variation

Council has been planning an upgrade to the levee system since 2007 for the Main City and North Wagga Wagga Levees. Following extensive community consultation, Council resolved to upgrade the Main City Levee to a 1 in 100-year level of protection. The upgrade of the Main City Levee will ensure the protection of both residences and businesses in Central Wagga Wagga in the event of a 1 in 100-year flood. This will reduce the likelihood that the area will need to be evacuated during a flood event, which can also have an immediate social and economic impact. In some flood events the upgrade will mean that flood levels in parts of the floodplain upstream and outside of the Main City Levee will increase slightly. The upgrade of the Main City Levee Bank project commenced in October 2017 and was completed in early March 2020 with the levee now capable of protecting the city against a 1 in 100-year flood event. The Main City Levee Bank was officially opened on 21 September 2020, marking a significant upgrade to one of the City’s most important pieces of infrastructure. At the start of 2019, Council entered into an agreement with a consultant to determine the most appropriate form of flood mitigation for North Wagga. This process and resolution has been delayed while a Peer Review of the 2018 FRMSP, as requested by the residents of North Wagga, took place. This Peer review has essentially been completed but requires some final key issues to be resolved by a meeting between the two relevant consultancies. This meeting will occur towards the end of 2021 and a finalised Peer Review will be presented to the new Council in 2022. The completion of the Peer Review and adoption by Council will allow the feasibility study to restart and the issue of flood mitigation for North Wagga can be resolved in accordance with DPIE and NSW Government requirements. Table 10 provides a breakdown of the budgeted cost of upgrading the Main City Levee to a 1 in 100-year level of protection and upgrading the North Wagga Wagga Levee to a 1 in 20-year level of protection. The project is being funded by Federal and State Government Grants and Council funding via a temporary SRV over a 5 year period. This SRV commenced on 1 July 2016 and finished on 30 June 2021.

Location

Main City Levee System North Wagga Levee System

Level of Protection Estimated Cost

1 in 100-year $14,840,757 1 in 20-year $8,419,811 Total Estimated Cost $23,260,568 Table 10: Levee costs

As the SRV is a temporary variation, at the end of the 5-year period, rates payable in 2021/2022 will revert back to the equivalent level to that if an SRV had not occurred.