An additional $9 million will fund two more pumps at Lismore’s Browns Creek pump station and raise the levee spillway, with the works intended to reduce flood risk for 300 buildings.
The project would bring the station’s pumping capacity to 20,000 litres a second, double the capacity planned under the previously funded $16.5 million upgrade.
Browns Creek pump station helps remove stormwater trapped behind the levee when high river levels prevent it draining naturally from the CBD.
The additional works include two submersible pumps, each capable of moving 5,000 litres a second, a 750mm spillway increase and improvements to debris management.
The National Emergency Management Agency says the combined works would reduce above-floor flooding risk for 300 buildings currently exposed in a flood with a 10 per cent chance of occurring each year.
Its funding register describes the additional pumps as bringing the station ‘to 20 m³/s design capacity’.
The Commonwealth will contribute $4.5 million, matched by a $4.5 million contribution from the state government or project partners.
Announcing the funding on Tuesday, November 3, NSW Recovery Minister Janelle Saffin said preparedness required investment before disasters struck.
‘Preparedness means investing in disaster risk reduction now to ensure our communities, right across the state, are shielded from future hazards,’ she said.
The funding announcement does not specify a completion date for the additional works.
The pumps’ role also has limits: when river water overtops the levee and enters the basin, pumping stops temporarily, resuming once river levels fall and conditions allow safe operation.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
