NSW’s deadly one-in-100-years floods could have been slashed by two metres using dams, CSIRO finds

North Lismore artist and musician Jimmy Willing stands on the site of his studio, destroyed in the 2022 floods. Photograph: Christine Tontorf

Building 10 new dams in New South Wales’s northern rivers could have reduced flood levels by up to two metres during devastating floods in 2022, but not enough to prevent a key levee overspilling, a report has found.

The CSIRO report was released on Tuesday, four years after it was commissioned by the Morrison government following NSW’s one-in-100-years floods.