Serious flooding was experienced in several communities in the South West Slopes and Riverina districts of New South Wales in mid-October 2010. The NSW State Emergency Service (NSWSES) is the combat agency for floods in NSW. To assist in undertaking this role the SES maintains a comprehensive flood intelligence system for key flood warning gauges in NSW and develops flood emergency plans for local government areas that have flood risks.

The main purpose of this investigation is to prepare a flood event report which compiles rainfall and flood information, extracts intelligence value from the information and recommends amendments to NSWSES planning documents (local flood plans and flood intelligence cards) based on the assessed information. A secondary objective of the investigation is to collect data in such a form that it can be utilised for future flood studies in the affected communities. It is understood that following the October 2010 flooding, flood studies are proposed for Holbrook, Culcairn, Henty, Tumut, Adelong, Tarcutta, Ladysmith, Uranquinty, Lockhart and The Rock.