Bendemeer is located beside the Macdonald River approximately 42km north-east of Tamworth, along the New England Highway. The catchment has an area of about 1140 square kilometres. The shape of the catchment is narrow, from the upper reaches in the hills south east of Woolbrook, through to Bendemeer, and downstream through the rural locality of Retreat to the confluence with the Namoi River at Warrabah National Park, located north east of Manilla.

The responsibility for planning and management of flood prone lands in NSW rests with local government, namely Tamworth Regional Council in this instance. The NSW Government provides assistance with state-wide policy issues and technical support. A Flood Prone Land Policy and a Floodplain Development Manual (NSW, 2005) forms the basis of floodplain management in NSW. The objectives of the Policy include:

• Reducing the impact of flooding and flood liability on existing developed areas by flood mitigation works and measures including ongoing emergency management measures, voluntary purchase and house raising programs, flood mitigation works, and development controls.
• Reducing the potential for flood losses in new development areas by the application of ecologically sensitive planning and development controls.