Lansdowne is located approximately 15 kilometres upstream along the Lansdowne River from the confluence of the Manning River. The Manning valley was first settled in the early nineteenth century and due to the importance of streams as transport routes for primary produce, numerous settlements were located adjacent to rivers below the tidal limit. In this way, the village of Lansdowne is located close to the tidal limit of the Lansdowne River, which is approximately two kilometres downstream from the railway bridge at Lansdowne.

The overall objective of this Floodplain Risk Management Plan is to provide an appropriate mix of management measures that will collectively mitigate or manage the flood risks. The benefit of these management strategies, where possible, has been compared to the long term cost of flooding in Lansdowne to the wider community (the cost of doing nothing).