Brisbane City Council says the future of life-saving creek alerts delivered to the city’s residents remains in limbo after the Federal Government rejected another of its request for funding to continue the service.
The Bureau of Meteorology will end support for its Enviromon service from mid-2026. Enviromon enables real-time safety alerts to be issued by local governments, providing automatic creek level notifications during weather events.
For a city built on a floodplain with 4,000 kilometres of waterways, real-time data is essential to keep residents prepared during severe weather, said Lord Mayor, Adrian Schrinner.
Just yesterday, it issued three alerts about water levels rising in Brisbane suburbs during a severe weather event.
“BOM’s Enviromon software has been ensuring councils get access to real-time creek and river data for 30 years,” said the Lord Mayor.
“Real-time data saves lives when our local creeks can rise in as little as 15 minutes during heavy rain.
“Yesterday’s storm reinforced the importance of being prepared and the value of our city’s flood alert system.
“It’s incredibly disappointing BOM has decided to stop supporting the Enviromon software without an equivalent replacement, despite its vital importance.”
Lord Mayor Schrinner said the Council had worked extensively to secure an alternative and sought funding from the Albanese Government.
In March 2024, Council applied to the Federal Government to jointly fund the approximate $500,000 cost to enhance flood forecasting software through the Disaster Ready Fund (round 2). The Federal Government rejected the application in August 2024.
Council again applied for the third round of the Federal Government’s Disaster Ready Fund in April 2025. This request was rejected last week.
The Council says the funding setback comes despite revelations that the Bureau of Meteorology spent almost $100 million on a new website, which has received widespread criticism since its launch.
“It has now been revealed the Government spent nearly $100 million on a botched new Bureau website that does less than it did previously,” said Civic Cabinet Chair for Environment, Parks and Sustainability, Tracy Davis.
“Now the Federal Government has rejected our latest request to help fund an equivalent to the Enviromon service they have provided for the past 30 years.
“This flies in the face of the thousands of Brisbane residents who rely on timely alerts during a flood.
“The Government’s decision creates unnecessary risk for communities and undermines long-standing disaster-management arrangements.
“We’ve written, called and pushed for action, but Canberra keeps telling councils to sort it out ourselves.
“This is cost-shifting with potentially dire consequences.”
The Council says it will be writing to all Brisbane’s Federal Labor MPs for support.
“Many of Brisbane’s Federal MPs represent some of the most-flood impacted areas in Queensland and their residents rely on these alerts,” said Lord Mayor Schrinner.
“I am hopeful these MPs will join us in advocating for the continuation of this essential service to ensure Brisbane remains prepared and protected during future storms.”
This year alone there have been 262 flood alerts issued, which have in turn delivered hundreds of thousands of messages with critical timely flood information directly to Brisbane households.
“That’s why Council needs real-time flood monitoring so residents can act fast and stay safe,” said the Lord Mayor.
He said the Council remains prepared for severe weather with 84 flood cameras, more than 520 SES volunteers, and more than 230,000 residents subscribed to Brisbane City Council’s Severe Weather Alerts.
“We’ve stocked more than 130,000 sandbags, cleared drains and trimmed trees as part of our summer storm preparedness.”
