The township of Casino is located on the banks of the Richmond River, one of the largest coastal rivers in northern New South Wales. The river flows in a general north-south direction from its source in the McPherson Ranges on the Queensland-New South Wales border and passes through Casino before reaching its confluence with the Wilsons River at Coraki. Downstream of Coraki, the Richmond River flows through the towns of Woodburn, Broadwater, and Wardell before discharging into the Pacific Ocean at Ballina. The catchment, which drains an area of approximately 1,800 square kilometres to Casino, is characterised by forests in the steeper upper areas and pastures in the remainder. The objectives of the Casino Floodplain Risk Management Plan are:
- to detail cost effective floodplain management measures for the Casino area;
- to present a brief economic analysis of the proposed scheme, including an overall benefit-cost ratio;
- to develop an implementation plan for the proposed scheme and present a program to illustrate the proposed actions and annual cost estimates associated with the implementation of the measures; and
- to take into account the funding from Council and both the State and Commonwealth Governments when estimating the cost for implementation.
The ultimate outcome of the Casino Floodplain Risk Management Study was the formulation and selection of a floodplain management scheme for incorporation into this Plan. The scheme is a combination of the floodplain management measures approved by the Committee. The Plan defines a series of actions which, if implemented, help reduce the impact of flooding in the Casino area by controlling the flood risk and reducing flood damages.
