Hunter residents raise concerns about Wollombi Brook river gauges as WaterNSW confirm accuracy during July floods

Broke community recovery coordinator, Angela Andonopoulos, said residents are concerned a gauge in the brook near Bulga is "not giving accurate readings".

"The gauge either needs to be replaced or we need to get gauges closer to Wollombi and Laguna," Ms Andonopoulos said.

"Some residents have started watching rainfall at Laguna because if they get 200mm of rain then that means we are likely to be in trouble."

"It comes from Laguna, through to Wollombi, through to Broke and then to Bulga. So there's not really much use relying on the gauges in Bulga."

Hunter Labor MP Dan Repacholi said he has heard from residents in the area concerned about the accuracy of the flood levels and warnings issued by the Bureau of Meteorology during July floods.

"Residents expressed concerns that some monitoring stations didn't work or were not reporting in a timely manner," Mr Repacholi said.

"I have written to the Minister about ensuring accurate warning levels, that real time data is available and that these monitoring stations are constantly checked and are working."

However WaterNSW, who operate the gauge at Bulga, said the gauge was fully functional throughout the July flood event "with no loss of data or transmission".

"The gauge continues to provide accurate information as a high priority flood warning site for the Bureau of Meteorology," a WaterNSW spokesperson said.

WaterNSW say they recently installed additional flood warning sites on behalf of Cessnock council, including sites that support flood warning in the Wollombi Brook area.

Three new monitoring gauges and a number of rain gauges were installed in January 2020 as part of the Bureau of Meteorology flood warning system. These included sites on the Congewai Creek, at Laguna and downstream of the Wollombi township.

They said all these sites were fully functional during the flood event in July 2022.

A spokesperson for the NSW SES, who are largely responsible for issuing flood warnings, said they rely upon information provided by gauge owners and the Bureau of Meteorology.

"There are two locations on Wollombi Brook for which the [Bureau of Meteorology] provides weather forecasts: Bulga and Wollombi," a NSW SES spokesperson said.

"The gauge at Wollombi is owned by Cessnock City Council. There are additional river level and rainfall gauges located along Wollombi Brook, and their data is collated by the [Bureau of Meteorology]."

The 2022 NSW Flood Inquiry, commissioned by the state government, found that to improve the reliability of existing flood forecast, monitoring and warning infrastructure, government "should identify gaps in the NSW gauge network".

Cessnock council, which has conducted $1.5 million in make-good works on roads affected by the July floods, said it will take on board the findings and recommendations of the enquiry in relation to existing flood warning systems.

"Council will also work collaboratively with the various government agencies and key stakeholders to review the existing flood warning systems, and identify strategies to improve these systems where gaps are identified," a Cessnock council spokesperson said.

With more than 142 tonnes of waste collected from Wollombi following the flooding, the council said total costs are expected to "run into several million dollars".

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