Home / Disasters and Accidents / Queensland Councils Slam BoM's Axing of Free Flood Forecasting Tool
Queensland Councils Slam BoM's Axing of Free Flood Forecasting Tool
9 Nov
Summary
- BoM to phase out free real-time flood forecasting tool Enviromon by July 2025
- Councils say move will end vital access to real-time flood data, putting lives at risk
- Replacement software OneRain cannot be provided free to councils and public bodies
In a move that has alarmed natural disaster-prone councils in south-east Queensland, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has announced plans to phase out its free real-time flood forecasting tool Enviromon by July 2025. The BoM cites the tool's failure to meet "basic cybersecurity, stability and resilience standards" as the reason for the change.
For nearly 30 years, Enviromon has provided local governments, emergency services and water managers across Australia with free access to a tool used to inform emergency alert systems. The software collects, displays and analyzes data from rainfall and river level gauges to enable flood forecasting. However, the BoM will now replace Enviromon with a US-developed program called OneRain, which cannot be sublicensed and therefore cannot be offered free to councils and other public bodies.
