Enabling Flood Resilient Communities Through Innovation and Enhanced Decision Support Systems
Tracks
Prince Room
| Tuesday, July 15, 2025 |
| 2:40 PM - 3:00 PM |
Overview
Grant Maxwell & Nicole Bichel, Stantec
Details
Key Presentation Learnings:
1.Shift the emphasis from risk identification to risk management;
2. FRGs could be adapted to fit the needs of other townships; and
3. Decision support tools can simultaneously enhance operational readiness and community resilience.
Speaker
Nicole Bichel
NZ Infrastructure Resilience Lead
Enabling Flood Resilient Communities Through Innovation and Enhanced Decision Support Systems
Biography
Nicole is a surface water engineer with over 16 years’ of experience working in local government, as a consultant and as a business leader in a rapidly-growing technology based business. Nicole has significant experience in undertaking and delivering flood and flood impact studies, emergency management and improving community resilience. She is experienced in delivery of risk, resilience and community engagement projects across a broad range of multi-disciplinary projects including built environment, mining, waste, power generation, infrastructure, residential, transport and agricultural sectors for both private and government clients.
Grant Maxwell
New Zealand Infrastructure Resilience Leader
Stantec
Enabling flood resilient communities through innovation and enhanced decision support systems
Abstract
Eastern Australia experienced its “fifth major wave of flooding over a 19-month period between March 2021 and October 2022” (Klein, 2022). During this extended period of flooding, The World Economic Forum (2023) identified the need to “think beyond emergency management to build long-term resilience within agencies and communities”.
As the climate and demographics of Australia’s population evolves and changes, emergency managers will need to address the opportunities and challenges distinct to their geography including “rapid regional population growth, an aging emergency service workforce and volunteer base and strengthen engagement with diverse communities to improve community flood resilience” (EMV, 2024).
Stantec and the Western Downs Regional Council collaborated recently to improve operational decision making and support community resilience across six (6) local townships through the introduction of town-based Flood Response Guides (FRGs) that aimed to:
• Document all operational activities Council undertake and the triggers for their commencement;
• Identify key areas of vulnerability in the townships through the documentation of flood history and available flood mapping;
• Leverage existing services and arrangements at the state and federal level to ensure effective response is achieved.
Essential to the success of the FRGs has been:
• Collating data and information to inform the FRGs from a variety of sources;
• Leveraging this data and information and create flood intelligence via the establishment of flood triggers linked to actions; and
• The development of innovative, accessible and intuitive decision support tools
Key findings from the FRGs developed for the Western Downs Region include:
• Shift the emphasis from risk identification to risk management;
• FRGs could be adapted to fit the needs of other townships; and
• Decision support tools can simultaneously enhance operational readiness and community resilience.
As the climate and demographics of Australia’s population evolves and changes, emergency managers will need to address the opportunities and challenges distinct to their geography including “rapid regional population growth, an aging emergency service workforce and volunteer base and strengthen engagement with diverse communities to improve community flood resilience” (EMV, 2024).
Stantec and the Western Downs Regional Council collaborated recently to improve operational decision making and support community resilience across six (6) local townships through the introduction of town-based Flood Response Guides (FRGs) that aimed to:
• Document all operational activities Council undertake and the triggers for their commencement;
• Identify key areas of vulnerability in the townships through the documentation of flood history and available flood mapping;
• Leverage existing services and arrangements at the state and federal level to ensure effective response is achieved.
Essential to the success of the FRGs has been:
• Collating data and information to inform the FRGs from a variety of sources;
• Leveraging this data and information and create flood intelligence via the establishment of flood triggers linked to actions; and
• The development of innovative, accessible and intuitive decision support tools
Key findings from the FRGs developed for the Western Downs Region include:
• Shift the emphasis from risk identification to risk management;
• FRGs could be adapted to fit the needs of other townships; and
• Decision support tools can simultaneously enhance operational readiness and community resilience.
Biography
Grant Maxwell is the New Zealand Infrastructure Resilience Leader for Stantec, with over 25 years of experience in disaster management, geotechnical engineering, and resilience. He has led numerous disaster event responses and recovery programs across the Asia Pacific, leveraging his strong background in geotechnical risk management. He is a technical advisor to regional Emergency Management Operations in New Zealand, and has spent the past three years leading transportation recovery programs resulting from the Cyclone Gabrielle damage across the North Island. Grant also serves as the Stantec ANZ lead for Disaster Management, where he drives cross-business strategy consisting of various preparedness, emergency response, and recovery initiatives and client programs.
