Your say on flooding in Sydney City, Darling Harbour and neighbouring suburbs

Share your experiences and help us plan for its impacts in the future.

Project Status: Under review

Public consultation period to

What we’re doing

Flooding due to overland flow can occur in an urban area when there is more rain than drainage pits and pipes can contain, causing water to spread over the land. Puddles or ponds after rain are normal and not considered flooding.

We’re improving our understanding of flood behaviour. This will better inform the management of flood risk to minimise impacts on our communities.

The study area includes Sydney City, Darling Harbour, Pyrmont, Haymarket, The Rocks, Millers Point, Dawes Point, Barangaroo and parts of Ultimo and Surry Hills as shown in the map. If you live in another suburb, it falls under a different flood catchment area, which will be updated at a later time.

A flood study is the first step in updating a floodplain risk management plan with your experiences helping us understand local conditions.

We’re interested in hearing from you if you’ve:

  • experienced flooding on your property or in your vehicle
  • seen flooding or signs of flooding
  • taken photos or documents related to flooding.

The information you provide will help us understand any existing local flooding problems and plan, resolve or reduce their impact in these areas.

Why we’re doing this

Flood studies are required to be reviewed every 5 years with each catchment area having its own plan under the NSW Government's flood prone land policy. Flood studies allow us to understand flood behaviour, and predict flood extents, potential hazards and risks.

The Darling Harbour and Sydney City catchment area is the first to go through this process.

 Aerial view of a city with blue lines outlining the coastal area, showing dense urban development, roads, parks, and a body of water.

Next steps

We’ll report all feedback to the Floodplain Risk Management Committee. The draft flood study will be open for public comment once it’s completed. When a property is identified as flood prone, we’ll notify the owner.

How you can give feedback

Consultation closes at 5pm on Tuesday 10 December 2024.

Feedback may be published in publicly available reports at the end of the consultation period. Your name or organisation’s name may appear in these reports with your feedback attributed. If you would like your feedback to be kept confidential, please let us know when making your contribution.

Other ways you can give feedback