Adelaide Plains market gardeners lose $30 million in floods wipeout
ADELAIDE Plains market gardeners stand to lose up to $30 million in produce as the costly fall out from days of devastating storms and floods starts to mount.
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ADELAIDE Plains market gardeners stand to lose up to $30 million in produce as the costly fall out from days of devastating storms and floods starts to mount.
As flood waters gradually started to recede in the region on Monday, producers were able to start surveying the cost of storms that have drenched the state with relentless rain, forcing rivers to break their banks.
Parts of the state are still bracing for a final sting in the tail of a system that has menaced the state for almost a week, with heavy rain forecast to fall across the sodden Mount Lofty Ranges between into Tuesday.
Produce losses from floods across the Adelaide Plains region alone are estimated to be $20-$30 million, as the total extent of damage statewide from the storms appears set to reach into the hundreds of millions.
Many say the damage to the food bowl was a disaster waiting to happen and could have been avoided, or at least considerably reduced, if flood mitigation works in the Gawler River catchment had been carried out.
The wipe out to one of the state’s most prolific salad and vegetable growing regions is also expected to drive prices up for consumers.
The floods, coupled with cold conditions, are expected to lead to shortages and price hikes for cucumbers, potatoes, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli and capsicums.
Dominic Catanzariti, 59, who was protecting his brother’s Virginia property from further flooding on Monday, said the damage was the worst he had seen.
He said authorities had not done enough to protect the region from rising water levels.
“I thought the floods from 11 years ago were bad but this is much worse,” he said surveying his brother’s 4ha crop of drowned parsnips.
“(Authorities) have done nothing to rectify the problem but they can start by clearing the river because there is so much crap in there.”
Vietnamese Farmers Association of SA spokesman Ly Luan Le said the region was one of the biggest producers of cucumbers in the state but early estimates were that more than half could be lost.
He said his association would like to see “practical support” from all tiers of government, including grants to help affected growers get back to business “earlier than expected”.
“One farm has lost about 50,000 plants of cucumbers in one night and some are still inaccessible,” he said.
Market gardener and Playford Councillor Dino Musolino said levees needed to be installed along the lower part of the river to protect the Adelaide Plains food bowl.
“We can’t sustain this as growers (and) we can’t sustain this as an industry,” he said.
“We need to take the railway line out so we can put in the levee bank.
“Nobody wants to listen.”
Virginia grower Phuoc Nguyen, 38, was expecting to pick 50,000 cucumbers on his Stanton Rd property in four weeks.
On Monday, he was walking through water that had turned his greenhouses into wading pools after the Gawler River burst its banks, wiping out his entire crop.
He and wife Dai Le, 40, and their six children are living with friends and are unsure whether they will financially survive the flood.
Pat Donofrio of Patlin Gardens at Penfield Gardens said his property was not too badly affected, “but I feel sorry for so many people with crops under water”.
He expects there to now be delays for the supply of cucumbers, capsicum, eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini and pumpkin.
“And there is such as simple solution,” he said.
“There’s a 26km stretch of Gawler River affected. We’ve known since starting here 60 years ago that it floods quite regularly.
“Since then the area has been built up with a lot more housing, but they’ve never bothered to address the problem, and put levees on the banks.
“They need to excavate the riverbank, clean it out and use that fill to build up the sides. It would be a $5-$6 million scheme, so simple, and then this wouldn’t happen.”
Playford Mayor Glenn Docherty toured the Virginia region and said more investment was needed to fast-track the Gawler River Flood Mitigation Scheme.
“Now is the time for the Federal and State Governments to significantly invest in helping to protect a vital area of South Australia that provides economic value,” he said.
“We’ve got to do something so that our economic livelihood for South Australia isn’t continually damaged every 10 years.”
The flood mitigation scheme, launched after the 1992 Gawler floods, aimed to protect communities along the Gawler River from inundation in the event of a one-in-100-year flood.
Overseen by a consortium of local councils, the Gawler River Floodplain Mitigation Authority built a multimillion-dollar dam at Concordia which sought to stop a one-in-100-year flood from impacting towns.
It was opened in 2007 however it was later learned that the dam would not stop such a major flood and more than 3000 properties along the river were still at risk of flood.
Since then, the authority has been trying to bring the level of flood protection to its desired one-in-100-year event standard.
Options under consideration include upgrading levees along the lower part of the river to better protect the Adelaide Plains, building a new dam or increasing the height of the current dam by 10m.
A report into these options will be considered by the authority next month.
However some mayors fear that even if a solution is found, there is no money to fund it.
Barossa Mayor Bob Sloane said to increase the height of the current dam would cost about $40 million.
“There hasn’t been a lot of money put into it because none of the councils have any money to put towards it,” he said.
“We can’t put together $40 million.
“The State Government would need to help, and the Federal Government as well.”
Adelaide Plains Council mayor Tony Flaherty agreed a lack of money was holding up progress.
“Every time we get a rain event … people still say ‘why don’t they do something?’,” he said.
“They don’t realise the councils don’t have the money — it’s got to be a State or Federal (funded-project).”
Agriculture Minister Leon Bignell said the damage across the Adelaide Plains was devastating.
“Estimates of losses in that area are between $20-30 million, although with water still high in the area it is likely to be a few more days until the total extent of the devastation is known,” he said.
“The advice we are receiving is that it will take six months for this region to recover with ongoing challenges including seed volumes to resew crops, availability of fungicide to treat surviving crops, and increased weed and insect damage.
“Elsewhere, we are aware that widespread infrastructure damage has occurred across the state including shearing, hay and machinery sheds, fallen trees on fences, roads and power poles.
“Landholders may experience significant clean-up costs following these wind and flood events.”
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull did not make any declaration of funding assistance when he met with affected Virginia growers Monday afternoon.
“There’s an automatic disaster relief mechanism which the State Government has not yet called on because they are assessing the damage,” he said.
But he said governments must do more to protect communities from natural disasters.
“I would say that over the years we have not spent enough money in Australia on disaster mitigation; we need to spend more in advance so we spend less after the rainfall or bushfire events,” he said.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten also toured the flood-ravaged region Monday, where he also advocated for flood mitigation funding.
“We spend a lot of money cleaning up. And of course there’s a cost to farms, businesses and householders with increased costs of insurance and repair,” he said.
“I believe in spending more in flood mitigation beforehand, literally pays for itself after a storm event.”
The weather bureau forecast falls of 10-20mm in the Mid North and 20-60mm in the Mount Lofty Ranges for the early hours of this morning.
Emergency services are on standby for flooding, particularly in the Adelaide Hills where there are flood warnings in place for the Torrens and Onkaparinga rivers.
— with Mitch Mott, Jordanna Schriever and Dianne Mattsson
Rising rivers and roads in flood: The storm of 2016
CATCHMENTS
ONKAPARINGA
The Onkaparinga catchment was hardest hit by rainfall overnight into yesterday, leading to flood warnings in the upper and middle parts of the Onkaparinga River.
The river peaked at Charleston as early as 11am and hit Hahndorf about 4pm. Some of the water will be stored in the Mt Bold catchment — which was drawn down as much as possible — before flowing to Port Noarlunga.
Lobethal received the highest rainfall, 54mm, in the previous 24 hours to Monday.
TORRENS
The Torrens peaked upstream at Birdwood. Water then flowed into Kangaroo Creek reservoir last night and down to Linear Park overnight. In the previous 24 hours to yesterday, 43mm of rain was recorded at Stringybark.
GAWLER
It was a relief for Gawler River, which didn’t get any rainfall on Sunday night, and is not expected to receive much today, with the North Para and Gawler expected to remain below flood levels.
The highest rainfall, 14mm, was recorded Mt Crawford, in the 24 hours to yesterday.
ANGAS
Rainfall was to have led to a rise of river levels last night, but they remain lower than last week, when at Strathalbyn the river reached 1.225m in depth. By tomorrow, the river is expected to be 1m deep.
BREMER
Mt Barker Creek is expected to get high water levels again, which are forecast to reach 1.6m.
At Langhorne Creek, the level is expected to reach 3m to 3.5m.
RAINFALL
Bureau of Meteorology regional hydrology manager Alex Cornish said the heavy rainfall on Monday came in three pulses.
Rainfall that began at midnight is expected to subside at about 12pm today, which will bring a further rise to the Onkaparinga and keep the Torrens high. The Bureau of Meteorology does not expect significant rainfalls to affect the north of the state.
REGIONS
TORRENS
Councils, including Charles Sturt, Campbelltown and Adelaide City Council, are struggling to assess the full impact of the storm as water levels in the Torrens remain high. Residents have reported some water cutting in to the banks near the West End brewery; there has been some damage along footpaths in Linear Park; and the clean up of debris, including tyres, continues at the Henley Beach
and Grange outlet. The public has been warned to keep away from these areas.
Charles Sturt mayor Angela Evans said recent storms hadn’t caused any further degradation of rock walls along the coast.
METRO-WIDE: Houses and powerlines damaged by falling trees, roofs ripped off buildings, widespread flash flooding, damaged roads.
PORT LINCOLN: City largely unscathed from the weather damage but emergency services responded to reports of trees knocked down and blocked drains.
LOWER EYRE PENINSULA: Extended power outages lasting as long as four days required the waste transfer station to take large amounts of spoiled food from restaurants, stores and households. Other than downed trees, the area escaped most flood and storm damage.
ADELAIDE HILLS: Extensive road and ford closures with a number of roads severely damaged and initial cost estimates in excess of $1 million.
Some people trapped on their properties by road closures and a serious impact on the long weekend tourism trade through Birdwood and other small towns.
BAROSSA: Numerous roads and vineyards, including Langmeil Wines vineyards – some of the oldest in the world – damaged.
ADELAIDE PLAINS: Roads south of Two Wells damaged.
GAWLER: All fords closed, extensive damage to Dead
Man’s Pass.
COPPER COAST: Parts of the swimming area at Wallaroo jetty washed away.
PLAYFORD: Roads and market gardens at Virginia flooded.
MOUNT REMARKABLE: Major damage to Port Germein jetty, four times worse than when it was damaged by storms in May, costing $200,000 to fix.
PORT PIRIE: Trees down, buildings and the netball canteen at Crystal Brook Oval lost roofs.
YORKE PENINSULA: Port Victoria jetty broken into three pieces and Port Rickaby jetty also extensively damaged.
BARUNGA WEST: Shacks flooded at Fisherman Bay.
CLARE AND GILBERT VALLEYS: The region sustained widespread flooding and Blyth was one of the worst hit areas, with numerous buildings damaged.
LIGHT REGIONAL: Dam burst its banks in Greenock, sending water towards the town, but impact on properties was minimal.
RESERVOIRS
Monday — 97 per cent
This day last year — 58 per cent
Barossa — 95 per cent
Happy Valley — 95 per cent
Hope Valley — 89 per cent
Kangaroo Creek — 104 per cent
Little Para — 104 per cent
Milbrook — 101 per cent
Mt Bold — 84 per cent
Myponga — 94 per cent
South Para — 106 per cent
Warren — 102 per cent
Adelaide Hills road closures (accurate as at 5.45pm yesterday)
Aldgate: Aldgate Valley Rd from Shanks Rd to Strathalbyn Rd; Forbes Rd, from Aldgate Valley Rd to Williams Rd.
Basket Range: Burdetts Rd, from Lobethal Rd to Rivenwood Lane; Hunters Rd, fromLenswood-Lobethal Rd to Blockers Rd.
Birdwood: Angus Creek Rd, Black Snake Rd, Muellers Rd.
Cherryville: Fernhurst Rd, single lane access only about 1km from Cherryville Rd.
Heathfield: Longwood Rd, from Cricklewood Rd to Heathfield Rd.
Lenswood: Fox Creek Rd, from intersection with Croft and Coldstore roads about 2km towards Cudlee Creek Rd; Smith Rd.
Lobethal: Jungfer Rd.
Montacute: Knotts Rd, Montacute Rd.
Oakbank: Johnson Rd, Oakwood Rd ford, Walters Rd ford.
Stirling: Heather Rd; Pine St, from Milan Tce to Milford Ave; Paratoo Rd, from Braeside Rd to Snows Rd.
Teringie: Ridgeland Way, single lane access.
Upper Sturt/Stirling: Sturt Valley Rd, between Longwood Rd and Heather Rd.