Dubbo flood map check

Dubbo Regional Council publishes its own flood mapping, and the Site Checker reads it for any Dubbo address. The checker reads three control extents from the council's Cardno 2018 study of the Macquarie and Talbragar rivers: the flood planning level, the 1% AEP flood and the probable maximum flood.

Type an address below to see what each map says about the block, with its source and date.

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Is my Dubbo property flood affected?

A Dubbo property is flood affected for planning when any part of it is inside Dubbo Regional Council's flood planning level extent, which the council draws at the 1% AEP flood plus 0.50 m. The Site Checker above reads the council's layers, the NSW Planning Portal map and the NSW SES extents, and shows each answer separately. The official answer is still Dubbo Regional Council's, and the questions below explain how to get it.

Where is the Dubbo Regional Council flood map?

Dubbo Regional Council keeps its flood layers in its planning map service, under a group named for the Cardno 2018 study, and its LEP page says the plan's maps can be downloaded from the NSW Planning Portal spatial viewer. Its planning resource documents include flood studies for Wellington, Geurie, Ballimore and Eumungerie.

Which Dubbo Regional Council flood layers does the Site Checker read?

The three layers are the Cardno 2018 study's own extents. None carries a study name or a date in its data, so the study is named in the layer labels instead.

The checker asks 3 layers: Flood planning level extent, 1% AEP plus 0.50 m, Cardno 2018 study; 1% AEP flood extent, peak of the Macquarie and Talbragar, Cardno 2018 study; and Probable maximum flood extent, Cardno 2018 study. Every one answered a test query on 18 September 2026. A raster flood planning level from the Dubbo Flood Study 2012 cannot be queried, and three combined layers mix a none class in with the flood classes, so all four are left out, with the rarer and more frequent events and the dam break scenarios.

What does the flood planning level mean in Dubbo?

It is the height below which Dubbo Regional Council's flood controls apply: the 1% AEP flood level plus 0.50 m of freeboard, the safety margin above the modelled flood. 1% AEP means a flood with a 1 in 100 chance of being reached or exceeded in any year. Land under that level is the flood planning area, and new habitable floors there generally go at or above it.

How do I get a flood certificate from Dubbo Regional Council?

Dubbo Regional Council does not list a separate flood certificate among its online certificates. The formal answer is the section 10.7 planning certificate, applied for on its online certificates page, and for flood levels on a particular lot, ask the council directly.

Why does the Dubbo Regional Council map differ from the state map?

They are drawn by different bodies for different jobs. The NSW SES Flood Database compiles flood extents from studies across the state, while Dubbo Regional Council's map is the one its planning controls are written against, and a flood planning area usually sits above the 1% AEP extent because it adds freeboard. A withdrawn LEP flood map on the Planning Portal shows as a former map with its date, never as a current control. The checker never merges the sources into one verdict, and where they disagree, Dubbo Regional Council settles it.

What else do people ask?

Does the Dubbo flood map show how deep the water would get?

No. An extent says whether land is inside a modelled flood, not how deep or fast the water is. Flood levels in metres AHD (height above average sea level) come from Dubbo Regional Council, through a direct enquiry to the council.

If my Dubbo block is outside the mapped area, can it still flood?

Yes. The Cardno 2018 study models the Macquarie and Talbragar rivers around Dubbo; Wellington, Geurie, Ballimore and Eumungerie have studies of their own that the checker does not read. Land outside every map can still flood from overland flow no study has modelled, and a council can apply flood controls to land its published map does not show.

Is this the same as a section 10.7 planning certificate?

No. Dubbo Regional Council's section 10.7 planning certificate is the formal statement of the controls on a lot, including whether flood related development controls apply. Order one through Dubbo Regional Council online certificates.

Where does this information come from?

This page and the Site Checker are general information from published maps, not a flood certificate, a section 10.7 planning certificate or a survey. They do not replace advice from the council, your certifier, an engineer, a lawyer or your own designer. Check any decision to buy or build against the council's own documents.