Flood protection

Floods can be prevented through flood mitigation projects. These include building dams upriver of flood-prone areas and building levees, or walls, around riverbanks to prevent water from reaching inhabited areas. Unfortunately, these defences can fail in extreme circumstances. 

The best defence against floods is early detection. The Bureau of Meteorology monitors river levels and rainfall and issues flood warnings as necessary. Some rivers have electronic data collection systems that transmit river levels to meteorologists. Some floods, such as flash floods, are not easy to predict.