This is a historical record, not a warning service. For current warnings go to the Bureau of Meteorology. In an emergency call 000; for flood and storm help, 132 500. Watermark is an independent project — not a government service, not the Bureau of Meteorology, and not affiliated with Geoscience Australia or any council.
Observed, not estimated
Find out what water has actually done
where you live.
Insurers hold detailed flood data on roughly 14 million Australian homes. You do not. Watermark builds the public version from open government data: forty years of satellite water observations, live river gauges, and the terrain under your street.
Landsat passes over every 8 to 16 days and cannot see through cloud. A flood that arrives and drains in two days can leave no satellite record at all. The February 2022 Lismore flood is the clearest example.
This tool can only show floods it caught. It cannot show floods it missed, and it says nothing about floods that have not happened yet. Always check your council flood study and the Bureau of Meteorology.
One observation covers an area about the size of a house block. Water seen in your pixel may have been in the paddock next door, and water in your yard may not have filled a whole pixel.
Ground heights come from a 30 m elevation model with roughly 5 m vertical accuracy, flown in 2000. That is enough to tell floodplain from hillside. It is not enough to compare your floor level to your kerb.
Gauge readings come from the Bureau of Meteorology’s Water Data Online, the quality-controlled archive rather than the warning feed. Every reading carries its age; during an actual flood use the Bureau’s warnings and your state emergency service, which update far more often.
We do not score your property, model a flood, or forecast one. We show what public satellites and public gauges actually recorded, with the dates attached, so you can judge for yourself.
No. Watermark is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Bureau of Meteorology, Geoscience Australia, any state emergency service, or any council. It republishes their open data and speaks for none of them.
Watermark can tell you the dates a satellite observed standing water on the ground your house sits on, going back to 1986. It cannot tell you whether water entered the building, how deep it got, or whether a flood happened between satellite passes. A record of observed water is strong evidence that water was there. An empty record is not evidence that it never was.
No, and it never will. Watermark does not model floods or forecast them. It reports what was observed, with the dates attached, so you can judge for yourself. For what might happen, your council’s flood study and the Bureau of Meteorology are the right sources.
Most likely the satellite was not overhead, or the sky was not clear. Landsat revisits every 8 to 16 days, and floods arrive with weather — so the passes during an event are exactly the ones most likely to be under cloud. The record shows how many clear looks it actually had.
Yes. There are no ads, no accounts, no paid reports and nothing about you is sold. It is built from open Australian government data and given away.
