Town pitches in to save medicinal cannabis crops from flood

A small Murray River town has pitched in to save a medicinal cannabis facility from going underwater as the region floods.

A small Murray River town has pitched in to save a medicinal cannabis facility from going underwater as the region floods.

When Benjeroop flood warden Lindsey Schultz received a phone call from a medicinal cannabis facility wedged between two flooding rivers, he knew he needed to call in support to stop it from flooding.

“They’re the biggest employer in the area. We wouldn’t like to lose something like that,” Mr Schultz said.

ECS Botanics executive general manager Nan-Maree Schoerie had been watching the water rise around the West Murrabit cannabis facility for days, and was becoming “extremely nervous”.

“We were aware the flood was going to come, so we had levee banks built. But I don’t think anyone understood just how much water was going to come.

“The water came and it was significantly more (than we expected).

“We’ve got a multimillion dollar facility and 50 people that work here. We were extremely nervous.”

Community members come together in West Murrabit to protect the ECS Botanics medicinal cannabis facility. Picture: Supplied

Mr Schultz made some phone calls, and by 9am on Monday about 22 locals had arrived at the site.

“I can’t express my gratitude enough. They just mucked in and started laying plastic and putting the sandbags down,” Ms Schoerie said.

The facility had become completely surrounded by floodwater and inaccessible except by boat.

ECS Botanics had retained a core staff of seven who were sleeping at the site and doing checks of the levee every two hours.

“It is exhausting. These guys are getting really fatigued,” Ms Schoerie said.

“We walk the entire perimeter every two hours, which is about one and a half kilometres, just looking for any potential leaks or weak points. If something is wrong we get the excavators out there and repair. It can’t wait until the morning.”

“There’s just no way we could have done it (without the volunteers). No way at all.”

Community members come together in West Murrabit to protect the ECS Botanics medicinal cannabis facility. Picture: Supplied

When volunteers arrived on Monday, the bad weather continued.

“We had hail, we had rain.

“They went standing in the freezing cold water. Absolutely ice cold. Some people were shivering.

“I was completely blown away just by the level of support. And not only the number of people, but the attitude of the people.”

The crops on the site were “high value” and in addition to processing equipment and tunnels, potential losses if the site flooded would be “in excess of $5 million”, she said.

Volunteers helped to lay plastic around the flood levee and secure it, to keep the soil in place.

The facility was not out of danger yet, but it was in a stronger position to face the next wave of flooding, Ms Schoerie said.

Flooding in the Loddon River has now peaked and flows are reducing. The peak of the flood in the Murray River will reach the Murrabit area in mid-November.

Community members come together in West Murrabit to protect the ECS Botanics medicinal cannabis facility. Picture: Supplied