Bourke Shire Council (Council) commissioned the preparation of the Bourke Flood Study and the Bourke Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan (Bourke FRMS&P) for the town of Bourke. The overall objectives of the Bourke Floodplain Risk Management Study (Bourke FRMS) were to assess the impacts of flooding, review existing Council policies as they relate to development of land in flood liable areas, consider options for the management of flood affected land and to develop the Bourke Floodplain Risk Management Plan (Bourke FRMP) which: i) Proposes modifications to existing Council policies to ensure that the development of flood affected land is undertaken so as to be compatible with the flood hazard and risk. ii) Proposes Flood Planning Levels for the various land uses in the floodplain. iii) Sets out the recommended program of works and measures aimed at reducing over time, the social, environmental and economic impacts of flooding. iv) Provides a program for implementation of the proposed works and measures.

The first steps in the process of preparing the Bourke FRMP were the collection of flood data and the undertaking of a flood study for Bourke (Bourke Flood Study). The Bourke Flood Study formed the formal starting process of defining management measures for flood liable land and represented a detailed technical investigation of flood behaviour for the township.

The Bourke FRMS focuses on flooding that originates from the Darling River (Darling River flooding), as well as flooding that occurs as a result of heavy and/or prolonged rain that falls directly over Bourke (local catchment flooding).