Cut off: A giant levee has been built in Echuca, leaving some residents safe on the dry side (left) and other homes inundated by floodwaters from the Murray River (right). Photo: Steve Huntley
A war of words has erupted between Campaspe Shire Council and Emergency Management Victoria over the construction of the 3km levee built in Echuca during the current flood crisis.
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Council issued a statement yesterday saying it was not consulted on the location or the design of Echuca’s temporary levee, however, Emergency Management Victoria (EMV) has insisted Campaspe Shire was involved in discussions about it being built.
Council’s statement said responsibility for its construction – including the location – lay squarely with EMV.
“Emergency Management Victoria, the lead agency in Victoria during an emergency event, made the decision on Monday, October 17 that a levee needed to be constructed in Echuca to protect as much of the township as possible,“ Council said.
“The levee’s location was decided by Emergency Management Victoria to save as many homes as possible from flooding.
“Campaspe Shire Council was not consulted on the levee’s location or design.“
But at a press conference held later yesterday, Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp refuted the claims Campaspe Shire was not involved in the process, while also defending the decision.
“When it was evident there was going to be an impact on Echuca itself ... there was a meeting of the incident emergency management team, (featuring) representatives from a number of different emergency services and other organisations working through what the options could be to protect parts of Echuca,” Mr Crisp said.
“My understanding is that the shire was engaged in the incident emergency management team meetings.”
When pressed further on the topic, Mr Crisp replied:
“My advice is the local government were engaged in the incident emergency management meetings,” he said.
“The placement of the levee was worked through between a number of key stakeholders, whether that be local government, catchment management authority emergency services, working through what was the right location to erect that particular levee to protect as much of Echuca and critical assets as it could.”
Echuca residents on both sides of the levee have been left fuming over its construction, with calls for clarity over why it was built where it was.
“It goes without saying that these premises were going to be impacted by floodwaters no matter what, I do accept, and acknowledge given there’s a levee there, there is a greater impact on those people on the wrong side of the levee,” Mr Crisp said.
“We’ll continue to do whatever we can to help those people who have chosen to stay there.”
Wet side: People walk through floodwaters alongside the temporary levee that has been built in Echuca. Photo: Steve Huntley
Floodwaters are already in and around dozens of homes on the wrong side of the levee, but residents living their have been given another kick in the teeth in recent days.
Huge pumps have been moving excess storm water from the dry side back over the levee onto the wet side, adding more water to what already has left their properties inundated.
Mr Crisp said that was unavoidable.
“There is a plan in place to pump water from the right side of the levee, is there other ways that water can be pumped to, I don’t have that advice,” he said.
The Murray River reached a peak of 94.94m (AHD) yesterday, the highest level it has reached in more than 150 years.
Alongside queries around the location and design of the levee, questions still remain about why it was not built sooner to protect more homes – either in the weeks leading up to the current flooding or after other historical flood events.
“There are a number of questions and rumours circulating in the community relating to past flood events and whether the appropriate action has been taken,“ Campaspe Shire said.
“While it is important to understand historical flood events, of the most significant events in Echuca’s recent history – 1974, 1993 and 2010/2011 – they were vastly different events to what the community is currently facing.
“The main difference is that today all three rivers, the Goulburn, Murray and Campaspe, are all contributing to the current flooding event.
“Once we are through the immediate impact of these floods, staff will turn their attention to past learnings, as well as learnings from this event, to inform future planning and possible advocacy to other levels of government to improve local infrastructure and our resilience to future flood events.
“Most importantly, we must focus on the current task at hand and the realities we face.“
Mr Crisp said there would be a time to look back at the lessons learned from the recent flooding.
“Whenever we go through a major emergency, this one will be no different when we get to the right point in time, to learn what we can from this event ... We’re focused on keeping our communities safe,” Mr Crisp said.
“We always learn through every type of emergency. We’re constantly learning.
“We need to get to a point to assess what has actually occurred and if this levee holds. At a point in time there will be further discussions with this community. I’m sure it is the case.”
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