The Shoalhaven River catchment covers an area of 7000 square kilometres with approximately 120 square kilometres of floodplain downstream of Nowra. The village of Terara is located on the floodplain approximately 2.5 kilometres downstream of Nowra Bridge. Terara was the original settlement on the south bank. The devastation of the 1860 and 1870 floods caused most of the population to move to the higher ground at Nowra with the subsequent decline of Terara. The village has continued to be flooded periodically, but people are still attracted to the area as a place to live. The population is now housed in a collection of heritage listed buildings and more modern premises, and there is some pressure for further development. The Shoalhaven River has a well-documented history of flooding going back to 1860. The Lower Shoalhaven River Flood Study was completed in April 1990 and established design flood levels across the floodplain. The Terara Village Floodplain Management Study identified the existing flood problem and canvassed the various measures to mitigate the effects of flooding and minimise the damages for future development.