Flood damaged culvert replaced with concrete bridge
Lismore City Mayor Steve Krieg and Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Premier Gurmesh Singh have opened the new Keerrong Road Bridge ... specialist Bridge Crew replaced the damaged culvert with a new 16.1m x 7.2m single span concrete structure. This new structure founded on steel driven piles has been designed and constructed to achieve a 100-year design life while improving its flood immunity and safety for local farmers and truck drivers.
Floods – The road to recovery
In our immediate area, we are lucky: the floods have been and gone while others across the State and beyond are still living with the uncertainty and dangers of rising river levels. For our region, it’s on to the recovery stage. The Times visited the Baringhup Caravan Park last weekend to view the damage following a massive release of water from Cairn Curran reservoir.
Premature peak?
Somebody better tell mother nature to get with the program as Koondrook-Barham’s peak was exceeded seven days early. The expected peak for Koondrook-Barham remains unchanged on official channels at an expected 6.2m. Mother nature had other ideas with a rainfall event on Monday, October 24 pushing the river to an eye watering 6.210m just one centimetre short of the highest recorded on NSW Water, the 1917 flood reaching 6.223m.
Rural Aid assisting farmers reeling from floods
Farmers in the Darling Downs have had to contend with four floods in six months from November 2021 to May 2022 while elsewhere in Queensland and northern New South Wales the damage has been widespread and devastating. Following flooding down south in recent weeks, Rural Aid’s team of counsellors are conducting welfare checks on Rural Aid’s registered farmers.
Big wet causes chaos
More than three times the average October rainfall has already fallen in Narrandera this month with more than 100mm drenching Narrandera in the first three weeks of October. The deluge has caused chaos with many roads being closed.
Calls to raise dams walls
Recent rainfall and flooding has resulted in further calls to raise the Wyangala and Burrinjuck Dams walls. Federal Member for Riverina Michael McCormack has reaffirmed his support for raising the Wyangala Dam wall after the Prime Minister and NSW Premier visited Forbes last week.
“We won’t go”
Kirstin Nicholson. Pat and Michelle Quinn’s dairy farm at Mincha West is under real threat of flooding. The 700 head dairy property sits about 3km from Flannery’s flume, and the water coming out of Kow Swamp backs up and flows over the top of the property ... In 2011, the farm was completely inundated – and Pat is predicting this flood will be the same.
Kerang isolated again
Kendall Jennings. Amidst the sound of helicopters, drones and light aircraft, the community of Kerang gathered to do whatever was needed to protect vital infrastructure as the Loddon River, Nine Mile Creek and Pyramid Creek water levels rose. Earthmoving machinery was used, along with sandbags to contain floodwater away from major roads, however, some efforts did not survive the floodwater onslaught.
Murray-Darling Basin Authority communique, 24 October 2022
When viewed together the 30 major dams across the Murray-Darling Basin are currently at 101% capacity and hold an unprecedented volume of water in storage ... At the Authority’s invitation, the South Australian River Murray Commissioner, Mr Richard Beasley SC, attended the meeting. He provided an update on his appointment to advocate for the health of the River Murray, Lower Lakes and Coorong.
Widespread flooding raises risk of water quality issues in the Murray–Darling Basin: MDBA
The Murray–Darling Basin continues to experience widespread flooding in some areas, prompting an increased risk of water quality issues like low-oxygen blackwater as temperatures increase. Governments and water authorities are working together to monitor the unfolding conditions which may see low-oxygen blackwater and blue-green algae emerge that can lead to fish deaths and increased water treatment.
Albanese and King – throwing rural communities down the drain – literally
For rural and regional communities, especially those crying out for dams for flood and drought mitigation for decades, Budget Paper Number 2 from the Commonwealth 2022-2023 Budget makes depressing reading.
Highway upgrades achieving flood immunity objectives
Rodney Stevens. A hydrological mitigation report on the Glenugie to Devlis Pulpit section of the Pacific Highway published by Transport for NSW shows the upgraded road is achieving its objectives of improving flood immunity. The report describes flood behaviour in the region, Transport for NSW’s flood management objectives, flood model outcomes, design and mitigation, and future planning.
‘I’m back home’: Flood displaced people move into pods at Coraki
The first 40 flood displaced residents to move into temporary housing at the Coraki pod village were officially handed the keys by the Minister for Flood Recovery Steph Cooke on Friday, October 21. There are 56 units at the Spring St site with the capacity to house up to 240 people.
Undera – the community left to take responsibility
As at 26 October, the flooding continues at Undera and, with no authority prepared to take responsibility for the levees, it's left to the community - somehow, sometime - to repair the multiple levee breaks.
Latest River Murray flow info now accessible in one easy location: Close
New inundation maps and a comprehensive list of frequently asked questions have been created as part of dedicated webpage on the highest River Murray flows in almost 50 years. Flood awareness, infrastructure and projected flow maps allow residents to look at potential inundation and check if their property is likely to be affected.
A statement from Campaspe Shire Council regarding the Echuca levee
Emergency Management Victoria, the lead agency in Victoria during an emergency event, made the decision on Monday, 17 October that a levee needed to be constructed in Echuca to protect as much of the township as possible. Based on the flood modelling available in the Incident Control Centre in Bendigo, Emergency Management Victoria had 48 hours to put the levee in place
Flood emergency
The entire Central Victorian region has been smashed by catastrophic floods, which appear to be more serious and more widespread than the 2010 and 2011 floods. With many regions experiencing record-breaking rains over catchments that were already sodden, the end result has been devastating. Gutters have turned into creeks, creeks into raging rivers and rivers into churning brown oceans ... Geoff Palmer took this photo of the spillway at Cairn Curran last Thursday.
Keeping crops a head above water: GRDC
With wet conditions saturating large areas of crop production land across Victoria and Tasmania, a GRDC project is identifying ways to maximise crop performance when waterlogging occurs ... Applying nitrogen can help crops recover after being waterlogged, and looking at where waterlogging occurs when it is happening can help growers to plan improved drainage to prevent future waterlogging.
Dam or be damned!: Bev McArthur
The East coast of the island is swollen with water – the bulging rivers purging to sea, or finding relief beyond their banks, the waters spewing and sprawling across paddocks and swirling down streets. The anxiety of sandbagging in the race to beat mother nature is real. The threat of the unknown is immense. The realisation of the brutal damage done: heartbreaking. If only we’d built more dams. Damn.
Preparations underway for expected increased River Murray flows following Victorian floods: Malinauskas, Close, Szakacs
The Malinauskas government will embark on a six week campaign to ensure River Murray communities are afforded the best possible protection from flood waters heading to South Australia. Latest modelling by the Department of Environment and Water is predicting flows of up to 120 gigalitres per day by early December – the highest flows since the 1970s.
Residents evacuated as Narrandera inundated
David Lee. Narrandera and surrounds are currently experiencing rising flood levels with more than 20 residents having evacuated their homes as of Monday. And it’s not over yet, with showers and storms expected over the coming days.
MINCo continues plan traditions
Last week, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority sang the praises of the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council (MINCo) meeting outcomes. Hot topics were climate change, delivering the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full, water buybacks and First Nations water. When it came to the almost $2 billion unregulated water trading industry that impacts communities, rural economies and the environment, it seems implementing legislation already in place was not on the radar.
