State government survey seeks your input for River Murray flood recovery plan

Locals support locals – that’s why this post about flood recovery is free to read. Your support helps Murray Bridge News tell important local stories – subscribe today.

The state government has opened up a community survey to inform the official recovery plan to help communities, businesses and councils move forward after the recent floods.

According to SA’s Department of the Premier and Cabinet, whether you were directly affected by the floods or not, your input is welcome and will be considered.

The survey will close on midnight at 30 April and can be completed online with either a computer or mobile device.

To complete the community recovery plan survey, click here.

Levee recovery update

PIRSA (Department of Primary Industries and Regions, South Australia) and DEW (Department of Environment and Water) are continuing stabilisation assessments and dewatering of levees in the LMRIA (Lower Murray Reclaimed Irrigation Area).

LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and stability assessments are now complete at most government-owned levees, with recommendation reports expected in mid-April.

Stability works have begun at Mypolonga and Burdett and will start in Pompoota on 11 April 2023.

All government-owned levee banks along the Lower Murray from Mannum to Wellington remain closed until further notice, and recreational activities along the levee banks, such as walking and fishing, are not allowed during this time.

Out of 10 government-owned levees, LiDAR flights and reports have been completed at all levees, and dewatering has commenced at six levees, with dewatering not required for Monteith and Jervois.

Stability assessments have been completed at 8 out of 10 government-owned levees.

Control points are being installed at all privately owned levees, and LiDAR flights were scheduled for the week starting 11 April 2023.

DEW will then access these levees by foot or light vehicle to do on-ground inspections and geophysical testing to ensure the banks are stable enough for civil earth-moving equipment.

After the levee banks have been assessed for stability and bearing capacity, short-term stabilisation works will be carried out to enable dewatering of the land and to provide access to landowners.

Out of 17 privately owned levees, dewatering has commenced at eight levees, and stabilisation is required in five levees.

For more information on government-owned levees, click here, and for more information on privately owned levees, click here.

Water levels predicted to be normal

While the DEW has not set a specific water level target for the LMRIA, as the Lower Lakes and the LMRIA are connected, what happens in the Lower Lakes will impact the LMRIA.

Over the coming months, the target water level around the Lower Lakes will gradually rise to 0.7 m by the end of June, which is typical at this time during most years.

The latest flow information is available on the Flows and daily water levels webpage or view the weekly River Murray Flow Report.

LMRIA Recovery Subcommittee holds first meeting

The first meeting of the LMRIA Recovery Subcommittee was held on 5 April.

The aim of the subcommittee is to ensure that primary producers’ flood-recovery priorities are appropriately represented and will have majority community membership.

The subcommittee will ensure effective two-way communication between community and government during the delivery of the levee stabilisation and dewatering programme.

Members of the subcommitee include the following:

• Irrigation Trust presiding members
• Community representatives
• Government representatives from PIRSA, DEW, SA Water, the Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board.

Locals support locals. Your support helps Murray Bridge News tell important stories - subscribe today.