Adelaide growers to be protected from floods along Gawler River
ABOUT 250 farms, homes and businesses would be protected from severe flooding similar to last year’s deluge under a $27 million plan to flood-proof the Gawler River.
ABOUT 250 farms, homes and businesses would be protected from severe flooding similar to last year’s deluge under a $27 million plan to flood-proof the Gawler River.
The river’s management authority last week released a report proposing to repair damaged and aged levees, and remove overgrowing weeds in a 10km stretch of river, near Port Wakefield Rd.
The “high priority” project would act as a short-term solution to prevent a repeat of the disastrous floods that washed through the Northern Adelaide Plains in September, causing $150 million worth of damage to about 50 fresh produce farms.
The plan was welcomed by the state’s peak vegetable lobby group.
Ausveg SA manager Jordan Brooke-Barnett said it was vital that the Northern Adelaide Plains was protected from future flooding.
“It’s good to see dollars put on the table – any investment out there is a good thing,” Mr Brooke-Barnett said.
“Our ultimate concern is about protecting the entire region and we are going to leave it up to the engineers to tell us what needs to be done.
“Our growers are vital to the economy and will be important when Holden leaves. It’s a major growth sector and we need to protect our farmers so we can create jobs for the state.”
According to the report, the 10km section of the river becomes “increasingly compromised” during a flood because the existing levees were “mostly in very poor condition” due to not having been constructed “to an appropriate standard” or having not been properly maintained.
Levees are long natural ridges or artificially constructed walls that regulate water levels and aim to keep the water within the designated river bank, rather than spilling over.
The gradual accumulation of sediments and an increasing population of weeds, including exotic trees, also meant the river’s water capacity was lessening, causing sometimes severe leakage.
The report stated the works were a “high priority” and would provide “immediate benefits in terms of reducing flood risks” to the hundreds of landowners who flank the river.
The report also recommended establishing a “Northern Floodway”, which would run from Old Port Wakefield Rd to Port Wakefield Hwy, and extend further west of the highway.
It would include upgrading levee banks along Pederick Rd and creating a side spillway on the north bank upstream from Old Port Wakefield Rd.
It would also mean creating levee systems on the floodplain west of Port Wakefield Rd, guiding flows on the plain north of the river channel and guiding them back into the river channel towards the western portion of the development at Buckland Park.
Landholders will be consulted about potential designs before this proposal goes ahead.
Together with the first recommendation, the works would cost a total of $27 million.
Authority chairman Ian Baldwin said the organisation was making applications to the SA Storm Water Management Authority for funding, and already had a commitment from the Environment, Water and Natural Resources Department to help with the first recommendation.
He said the authority might also seek private investment to pay for the Northern Floodway, but hoped the first stage – upgrading levees and removing weeds – would be done by winter.
“With these levees works carried out and the completion of the Northern Floodway, then we would be able to provide protection at least for a one in 20-year flood event, and possibly even up to a one in 50-year flood event,” Mr Baldwin said.
“It is important these initial works (to the levees) be undertaken … and in the future, works associated with forming the Northern Floodway could be completed,” Mr Baldwin said.
Playford Council chief executive Mal Hemmerling, who is a member of the flood management authority, said main roads and transport corridors also needed to be reassessed.
“We have an accountability to our residents,” he said. “The simple thing is that we are looking for a solution.”
Getting back on track
WHEN Tony Catanzariti’s cauliflower and parsnip farm was inundated with flood water six months ago, he knew the road to recovery was going to be long and tedious.
The Virginia farmer, whose family has owned the farm for six decades, was on the cusp of harvesting his parsnip crop when the Gawler River broke its banks in September.
“We were nearly ready to harvest – the parsnips had been in the ground for seven months and were just about ready to be pulled out, but the farm flooded out,” Mr Catanzariti said.
“We lost a fair bit of produce, probably at least $100,000 worth. It set us back a fair bit.
“And parsnips have a long crop in the ground and take about seven months to grow, which means you can’t just get straight back into it. You have to wait a pretty long time.”
Mr Catanzariti, who also grows baby spinach, was determined to get back on his feet and was quick to start the clean-up process. He replanted the produce within two months.
He was able to offset some of the clean-up costs using a $10,000 assistance grant from the State Government, but said more needed to be done to prevent flooding across the plains in the future.
“Anything they (Gawler River Floodplains Management Authority) can do to prevent this from happening again will be good, especially cleaning out the river and fixing levees,” he said.
“But I think they really need to make a bigger holding dam further downstream and run another channel out to sea. There’s enough land to do it, I guess they just have to want to do it.”