News

Concerns raised over rural levee systems along Murray River

By Murray Silby

Oct 3, 2022

**Protection:** A series of levee systems along the Murray River protect a number of towns, communities and agricultural enterprises. Photo by Jamie Salter

Moira Shire Council says it is raising the concerns of the community and itself over the maintenance of flood levees with relevant state government authorities.

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With rivers and creeks, especially the Murray River, at high levels, dams upstream full and higher-than-average rainfall predicted, the shire’s network of levees has been brought into sharp focus.

The matter was raised by Koonoomoo resident Malcolm Taylor in a letter to the shire and the Courier editor this week.

In the letter, Mr Taylor highlighted the Koonoomoo levee, which he claimed had a “serious defect” where the levee failed in 1975.

He said if the levee failed again the “Newell Hwy will be impassable for weeks” and “production losses to agriculture will run into the millions of dollars”.

In a statement, Moira Shire said rural levees were not managed by council, but it was prepared to take up a leadership role and was working to highlight the issue.

It said it actively monitored and managed its own nominated urban levee systems and was not expecting any of them to be breeched unless a flood “worse than those experienced in recent memory” occurred.