River Murray floods: Big wet means long dry spell for houseboat operators

The state’s longest running houseboat operation will temporarily close next weekend as the Murray keeps rising. It comes as the SES starts to use a new “supersized” sandbag technology.

South Australia’s longest running houseboat operation will shut up shop after next weekend as the river continues to rise, and owner-operator James Copeland thinks it could be as late as Easter before he’s up and running again.

Mr Copeland, who has run Green & Gold Houseboats out of Waikerie with his wife Ruth since 1989, said revised flow estimates meant he would have to move his tanks off the river bank, making refuelling impossible.

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He said government assistance – either in the form of aid packages or extra advertising and promotion – would be welcomed by all earning their livelihood on the river, and he urged South Australians to consider booking a houseboat trip after the floods had subsided.

“We’re going to have to stop after next weekend because we have to take the fuel tanks away,” Mr Copeland said.

“And once the river crosses the bank it will be nigh on impossible to get customers onto the boats anyway. That’s still a fair way off, but with have to be preparing for it with the flow predictions going even higher.

Waikerie houseboat hire business owner James Copeland in front of one of his Green & Gold Houseboats at the Murray riverbank in Waikerie. Picture Morgan Sette)

“We can’t in good faith continue to tell people to come so we had to cancel bookings for December and January so that people could make alternative arrangements to have a holiday on the coast or something similar.”

Mr Copeland said it would be months before things were back to normal in the Riverland.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it was at least three or four months before we can operate again,” he said.

“Even then it will take a long time for the bank to dry out – there’s going to be mud everywhere – and then you have to get the fuel installation back in. I would think we would be lucky to be running before Easter.”

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Mr Copeland said any government assistance to help businesses weather the flood period would be welcomed.

“I know Premier Malinauskas was up here during the week and he made noise to the effect that there would be a package coming out next week, and emergency services minister Joe Szakacs was kind enough to call in and see us,” he said.

“He didn’t say there would be a financial aid package, he was talking more along the lines additional advertising to get people back to the river.”

Mr Copeland said summer was traditionally the busiest time on the river, and operators would be hit hard when boating became impossible.

“I don’t want to paint a picture of doom and gloom because we’re not going to go broke, but we were looking at slowing down in the next couple of years and this will put that out another couple of years,” he said.

“Summer is the time where you kid yourself that you’re making money because you’re catching up from the lean months. Usually at the end of summer you’re worn out but the coffers are full and you have your nose in front.”

Mr Copeland said booking a winter houseboat holiday would be helpful in aiding the region to recover.

“The river will be up for a fair while, so when you’re travelling you’re up a couple of metres higher than normal so you can see over the bank and off into the distance,” he said.

“It will be a great time to be up here.”

Trinity Williams, 21, from Waikerie with best friends Alicia Shaw, 22, and Brendan Wilson, 26, from Mount Barker on a Green & Gold Houseboat to celebrate her 21st birthday. Picture: Morgan Sette

Trinity Williams left on a Green & Gold houseboat on Friday to celebrate her 21st with her friends.

Ms Williams, of Waikerie, said she had taken houseboat trips with her family since she was very young, and felt confident venturing onto the fast-flowing river.

“The only thing we won’t be able to do is swim,” Ms Williams said.

“My dad is coming on to drive us for the first part. He’ll hop off once he’s parked it, and then we’ll drive it back. And the owner ran us through the boat and what to do, and he told us that he was available to pull help us park if we need him.”

Meanwhile, the state’s SES will begin using a new “supersized” sandbag technology as part of its response to the River Murray flooding event.

The system, Defencell, can be filled with sand by hand or with a small Bobcat to build barriers and structures to properties and infrastructure.

Chief Officer Chris Beattie said the SES was working with local councils and communities to identify the most appropriate areas to deploy the flood barriers.

“This temporary flood protection system will be used alongside traditional approaches involving sandbagging and just-in-time construction of earthen levees,” he said.