While communities continue to recover from the 2022 flood event, residents are concerned that at least 30 levee breaches on the lower Loddon remain unrepaired. Emergency services have already been called to respond to a flood risk this month when a recent rise in the Murray River threatened to spill from a levee bank breach in the Benjeroop area.

“The reality is a number of breaches, particularly on that lower Loddon floodplain, haven’t been repaired yet,” said Gannawarra CEO Geoff Rollinson after a meeting with stakeholders to resolve the issue last week.

“There’s been $22 million set aside by the state and federal governments to look into ownership, control and maintenance of those particular private levees, as they are deemed, some are on crown land and some are on private land.

“We’re pushing pretty hard on the State and Federal Governments on repairing these breaches. Let the study come later on.

“Not having these rural levee bank breaches repaired before winter means that any future rain event which creates a rise in river height could lead to re-flooding.

“It is unfortunate that no government agency is responsible for the management of these rural levee banks or funding the necessary repairs.”

Flood Warden, Lindsay Schultz, said the current high river and rainfall will see water potentially impacting property and infrastructure if action is not taken to address the breaches.

“The government has totally wiped their hands of us,” said Mr Schultz.

“It won’t take any floods; we’ve just had some rain. There’s water running off paddocks now, there is a trickle running into the Barr and the Loddon. Give it a couple of weeks and there will be water coming out of this hole and running straight across these paddocks.”

This week, VicEmergency warned of the potential to hit minor flood warning for Barham as the Murray edged closer to the 5.5m trigger. No action yet on renaming or adjusting “Flooding at Barham”, as in reality, only low-lying rural areas and forests are impacted at the minor trigger point, and the announcement harms the tourist trade.

Water storages are very full; Hume 97 per cent (94 per cent this time last year) Dartmouth 97 per cent (95 per cent) Lake Eildon 97 per cent (82.11 per cent) Lake Eppalock 97 per cent (49 per cent) Laanecoorie Reservoir 99 per cent (38 per cent).

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 29 June 2023.