Can the implementation of blue-green infrastructure improve the resilience and preparedness of communities by mitigating flooding in a changing climate?

Floods are an important part of the Australian landscape as they bring welcomed relief for the environment and communities experiencing drought. However, they are also estimated to be the most expensive natural disaster in the country (Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience 2023). The risk of floods to communities is expected to be exacerbated due to climate change and urbanisation (Ghofrani et al. 2016). The Bureau of Meteorology and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) (2022) have stated that the frequency of extreme rainfall events is anticipated to increase in Australia in a changing climate. The implementation of Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) offers a method for climate change mitigation in an increasingly urbanised environment (Ghofrani et al. 2017). The objective of this research is to understand the effectiveness of implementing BGI elements to improve the resilience and preparedness of communities for flooding in a changing climate. This research focuses on a case study example of Painkalac Creek, in southwest Victoria where the implementation of BGI has been modelled. Several different BGI elements including, rain gardens, permeable pavement, wetlands and vegetative swales were modelled. The results confirm that the implementation of BGI elements in the Painkalac Creek catchment improves the resilience and preparedness of the Aireys Inlet community to respond in the event of a flood in a changing climate. Moreover, less flood volume, at a reduced depth and less hours of flooding gives authorities and the community the opportunity to improve to better respond to and recovery from a flood. BGI provides an alternative flood mitigation measure to reduce the number of artificial creek openings.