Lismore City Council is currently installing a high-trans pump in Browns Creek to alleviate flooding in the Lismore basin.
The Browns Creek Pumping Station is currently operating at only partial capacity after the March floods resulted in one having to be taken out of service completely and the other only partly operational.
The council says it will most likely have to close some public streets including Keen and Molesworth Streets around Browns Creek and run hoses over these streets, througLish the carpark and across the levee wall to pump water into the river.
The Fire & Rescue NSW pump, which arrived from Sydney yesterday, is designed to supplement pump capacity if required as damage from the March flood has left one Browns Creek pump out of action and the other only partially operational.
The council will close the Browns Creek floodgate if the Wilsons River reaches 5.2 metres. The Bureau of Meteorology has predicted the river will reach 5.4 metres this afternoon.
While closing the gates will prevent rising river water from spilling into the basin, it will also stop rainfall in the basin from draining into the creek.
‘The pump will give us greater capacity to keep water draining out of the basin. This will also be necessary should we get very heavy falls and experience flash flooding in the CBD and basin area,’ The council’s emergency management officer Scott Turner said.
‘Many people have asked why the pumps were not fixed following the March flood. This is a major undertaking and one we only do in the driest part of the year between September and November as we don’t want to leave ourselves with no pump capacity.
‘The Browns Creek pumps are heavy duty pieces of machinery that need to be craned out, sent to a specialised engineering factory in Brisbane for repair and then reinstalled. It’s a three-month process minimum. Hopefully the high-trans pump can boost our capacity and we are very grateful to Fire & Rescue NSW for their support and quick response.’
SES members have been door-knocking in the basin area and parts of East Lismore with more detailed information, and the council will door-knock businesses affected by the pump installation and any loss of access.
Residents and businesses are asked to follow the advice of all traffic control in place.
For detailed weather information and ongoing updates, visit www.bom.gov.au and www.ses.nsw.gov.au.
