A VIRGINIA farmer is calling for the $27 million Northern Floodway to be progressed as Gawler River producers brace for potential flooding later this
year.
A wetter-than-normal October and November has prompted farmers along the Gawler River’s banks to make alternative planting plans after being warned of a flood threat.
It comes just four years after the 2016 Gawler River flood which caused around $50 million in crop losses and is still being felt financially by growers.
The Gawler River Floodplain Management Authority was formed in August 2002 to help its six member councils – Gawler, Barossa, Adelaide Plains, Playford, Light Regional and Adelaide Hills – plan and advocate for flood mitigation measures.
Following the 2016 flood, the GRFMA put forward its Northern Floodway plan, a $27 million project which would prevent a one-in-50 year flooding event.
Virginia farmer Dino Musolino, a former Playford Council deputy mayor, said little progress had been made on the project since its inception – and it was costing farmers.
“Bureaucrats, who have the authority to do something about it (flooding) and find a solution, it’s not a major issue for them,” he said.
“This floodway should be a hybrid thing where all levels of government come together. But none of them want to because they know it will cost them money.
“Therefore, they’re shying away and I’ll stand before all of them and let them tell me different.”
The Northern Floodway will consist of a number of levees and inlets dug into the northern side of the river to allow for floodwater to safely escape from the waterway and prevent
flooding.
Overgrown vegetation and silt would also be removed from the river to improve its flow.
The GRFMA member councils have remained steadfast in their opposition to funding any of the project, maintaining the State and Federal governments should foot the bill.
In 2018, a funding proposal which would have seen the Federal Government offer $10 million and the State Government $14 million was blocked due to councils not wishing to invest the remaining $3 million.
Following the 2016 floods, then-Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull and then-opposition leader Steven Marshall toured the affected region, with Mr Turnbull saying governments had “not spent enough” on flood mitigation.
Mr Musolino said it was time for governments to deliver for farmers and fund the Northern Floodway before another crop-destroying flood hits.
“The moment they (Mr Turnbull and Mr Marshall) got back into the city, it was no longer a problem for them,” he
said.
“We’re all waiting for that (the Northern Floodway) to happen, because then we can continue to grow the economy and grow our industry because we have the assurance that one of the things that causes us serious damage has been minimised.”