New funding to support flood-damaged Lower Murray levee remediation

Critical government-owned infrastructure along the Murray has been in dire straits since record flooding hit more than a year ago.

New funding is set to advance remediation works to the flood-damaged government-owned levees in the Lower Murray.

The state and federal governments will provide up to $17.1 million in funding to fix the levees in the Lower River Murray Reclaimed Irrigation Area – between Mannum and Wellington – which were damaged in the 2022-23 River Murray flood.

It comes after farmers in the Lower Murray said they were in desperate need of government support to get back up and running, following a “summer of hell”.

Daniel Martin, of Wall Flat, during an inspection of the levee banks late last year. Picture: Dylan Hogarth

The work has been funded by the federal and state governments through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA), and the repair and reinforcement to damaged levee sections will take place over the coming months.

The SA government has allocated $14.2 million to undertake initial repairs to privately owned LRMIA levees.

Deputy Premier Susan Close said the government acknowledged the importance of the LMRIA agricultural area to the regional economy of South Australia.

“This funding will allow for the completion of immediate works while a longer-term strategy is developed to bolster resilience of the region’s levee network which is comprised of both government and privately-owned levees,” she said,

Federal Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt said the government would continue to work with their state counterparts to improve disaster mitigation for South Australians.

“This support for immediate works on the River Murray levee system will provide assurance to the community while the South Australian Government works on a longer-term strategy to maintain and make the entire levee-system more resilient to future events,” he said.