Gunnedah Local Government Area (LGA) is situated in the Northern Statistical Division of NSW and has an area of 5,100 square kilometres. Gunnedah, its largest town, is located at the heart of the Gunnedah LGA, with Carroll situated 25 kilometres to the east of Gunnedah. Sydney is located 480 kilometres south-east of Gunnedah, while Tamworth is approximately 70 kilometres to the east of Gunnedah. Both Gunnedah and Carroll lie on the floodplains of the Namoi River Valley. Carroll is upstream of Gunnedah, approximately 17.5 kilometres from the junction of the Peel and Namoi Rivers, and Gunnedah is approximately 4 kilometres downstream from the confluence of the Mooki and Namoi Rivers. The primary objectives are:

• to reduce the social and economic impact of flooding on individual owners and occupiers of flood prone property;
• to reduce private and public losses resulting from floods.
• to mitigate the impacts of flooding on essential service infrastructure;
• to minimise adverse economic impacts on the commercial centre of Gunnedah;
• to maintain the urban/rural lifestyle of Gunnedah;
• to maintain the rural residential lifestyle in Carroll;
• to utilise ecologically sustainable methods for flood mitigation where possible; and
• to retain the social and environmental benefits to the residents resulting from the proximity of both towns to the Namoi River.