SASES warns people swimming or using watercraft on the River Murray to be wary of high water flow and debris

The SASES has advised precautions be taken to protect life and property as new alerts for the Riverland are issued. This follows the delivery of 70,000 sandbags to the area on Friday.

The State Emergency Service has warned people swimming or using watercraft on the River Murray to be wary of high water flow and debris.

The SES has stressed its ‘high flow advice’ is not a flood warning, but instead an alert for a higher than average river current.

The latest forecasts indicate the flow to SA will reach approximately 85 GL/day around the end of October and will continue to rise during November and reach approximately 120 GL/day in early December.

River water levels are rising in Renmark due to heavy falls and flooding over the border. Picture: Keryn Stevens

At this flow rate, inundation above normal pool level is expected to be limited to low-lying areas of the flood plain, but the main River Murray channel is expected to experience high flow.

The SASES advised people operating watercraft, swimming, canoeing or participating in other activities on the main River Murray channel to be aware of the risk of high flow and to take precautions to protect life and property.

Backwaters, lakes and other parts of the river away from the main channel are likely to be less affected by the high flows, and present lower risks to life and property.

However, further increases are highly likely as a result of more rainfall over the Murray-Darling Basin in the coming weeks.

The advice follows the delivery of 70,000 empty sandbags and 50 tons of sand to the Riverland on Friday.

SASES chief officer Chris Beattie said sandbags played an important role in assisting residents to prepare for flooding and to minimise potential impact to their properties.

“Additional bags and sand are a next step following the increased forecasts of floodwater crossing the border into South Australia from around 80,000 megalitres a day to 120,000 by early December,” he said.

“This will allow people the time to prepare themselves and properties well in advance of the expected increase of floodwaters.’’

About 40,000 sandbags will be delivered to the Loxton Unit followed by 10,000 bags to the Morgan Sporting Complex, including a large delivery of sand.

It follows the delivery of 20,000 sandbags to the Blanchetown Unit on Wednesday afternoon.

The first delivery of 70,000 empty sandbags and 50 tonnes of sand have arrived in the Riverland as residents prepare for increased flooding along the River Murray. By early December, 120,000 megalitres of floodwaters per day are expected to flow from the east coast. #7NEWSpic.twitter.com/w3ZdfbVkBN

— 7NEWS Adelaide (@7NewsAdelaide) October 21, 2022

Two major levees in the Riverland have been deemed “not fit for purpose”, as the region prepares for once in 50-year water levels. Engineers and flood planners inspected the Hospital Bank and Hale St levees in Renmark on Thursday and concluded the banks were heavily eroded and could collapse if called into action.

Department of Environment and Water executive director of water and River Murray told ABC Radio flows in Renmark “aren’t that high in relative to a flood.”

“For the levee banks to start working in needs to be 30GL per day,” he said.

“We are still forecasting 120GL, but that’s many weeks off yet.

“There is rain in the catchment this week, so we’ll revise the forecast once we know what comes … those forecasts seem to have been dropping over the week which is positive news.”