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The Barwon-Darling Valley Floodplain Boundary. The area within the boundary is declared to be a floodplain under the Water Management (General) Regulation 2011.The upstream limit of the floodplain is at Mungindi on the Barwon River, at the New South Wales (NSW), Queensland border and the downstream limit is approximately 20 km downstream of Louth on the Darling River. The northern boundary and part of the southern boundary of the floodplain are confined to higher ground and include a limited extent of contributing influence streams. The remaining parts of the southern boundary are aligned to boundaries of other rural floodplain management plans.The boundary of the Barwon-Darling Valley Floodplain was delineated based on the consideration of the following:Designated floodplains and floodplain development guidelinesExisting and potential floodplain developments in the Barwon-Darling Valley Floodplain were identified from the following existing floodplain areas designated under Part 8 of the WA 1912: Bogan River Confluence to Louth designated floodplain, rural flood study (URS 2009)Lower Macquarie designated floodplainLower Macintyre designated floodplainSmall sections of the Lower Gwydir and Lower Namoi designated floodplainsLittle Bogan River to Yanda Creek floodplain guidelines (WRC 1986a), andDarling River – Yanda Creek to Louth floodplain guidelines (WRC 1986b.The WA 1912 was repealed in 2015 and all existing designated floodplains under this Act transitioned across to the WMA.Hydraulic effects of developmentThe floodplain was extended to include additional flood works that were outside the existing designated floodplain areas to meet the objectives of the Barwon-Darling Valley FMP and to assist with the coordination of all flood works across the extent of major flooding.Cadastral and administrative relevanceWhere appropriate, the floodplain was aligned with significant cadastral features (e.g. property, parish, county, LGA and State boundaries; roads and railways) to simplify administration and to provide clarity to water users.Planning legacy (unregulated water sharing plans (WSPs))Where appropriate, the boundary was aligned with unregulated WSP boundaries to ensure consistency with boundaries of water management plans under the WMA, ease of administration and increased clarity for water users.Floodplain harvestingThe floodplain boundary included areas identified through the Floodplain Harvesting Project’s expression of interest process for floodplain harvesting licences and potential floodplain harvesting structures. This ensures consistency with the NSW Floodplain Harvesting Policy (NSW DPI 2013), which only applies to floodplain harvesting activities on properties where all or part of that property lies within the designated floodplain.Other FMP floodplain boundariesThe Barwon-Darling Valley Floodplain was aligned with FMP boundaries of the Border Rivers, Gwydir, Lower Namoi and Macquarie valleys to provide consistency with other water management plan boundaries under the WMA 2000.Landscape featuresWhere appropriate, the boundary was aligned with significant landscape features, such as weirs, to assist ease of administration and to provide clarity for water users. |