A community drop-in session was held on Wednesday night to provide additional information around the plan, with only a handful of residents in attendance.
The session was led by water technology project manager Ben Tate, who gave insight into the process of creating the flood plan and key areas for council to prioritise.
Residents voiced concerns about various issues, including the location of the proposed levees and whether the plan should address more immediate needs rather than possible future events.
Cr John Harvie said that hearing the community’s concerns was a valuable part of creating a plan that reflected community needs.
“That’s why it’s good that (people) come along ... because this is precisely what this is about,” he said.
“We can’t sit here and make promises, but we’re giving you guys the opportunity to put a submission in, in the next week, and then it’ll be considered by the council.”
The plan details four key measures that council can undertake to help prevent major damage during future flood events.
Proposed flood measures include a permanent levee along the Murray River behind the Tindarra Resort, with provisions for a temporary levee during the interim period.
Moama’s west, where The Tindarra Resort is located, sits on high ground above the Kanyapella Basin; however, there are low depressions where breakaway flows can occur.
The flood modelling showed that the area to the north of the resort could possibly overflow during a two per cent Annual Exceedance Probability or higher flood event.
As the area is outside the Kanyapella Basin on higher ground, there has been recent residential growth, with further demand for future development to continue.
Preventing any breakaway flow would allow further development to progress in the area of Moama with the lowest flood risk.
Although the crest of the existing Moama town levee is above the one per cent AEP (one-in-100-year) flood event level, upgrades to the levee has been identified as a high priority.
According to the flood modelling results, the current level of freeboard poses a risk to all properties behind the levee if the levee is breached.
The proposed freeboard will be 0.8m for earthen sections and 0.59m for concrete sections, about 1m higher than the October 2022 flood levels to ensure that the levee can hold against bigger flood events.
Mr Tate said community engagement was needed before the works on the town levee went ahead.
“The flight gates and everything work great but still the freeboard there is significantly lower,” he said.
“If you’ve got waves washing up against it or heavy winds or something, then they can wash over the levee crest.
“If you get government funding to do that, great, but there is some work to do around community acceptance of that upgrade.”
The Tindarra levee is estimated to cost around $1.4 million and the Moama town levee $4.3 million, bringing the combined cost to $5.7 million.
Mr Tate also discussed the cost-benefit analysis for the project, noting that although the works would cost $5.7 million, they would save the government an estimated $140 million in flood recovery efforts if a flood event was to occur.
Other medium-level priorities recognised in the plan include the review and enhancement of council’s stormwater drainage system and the installation of a permanent storm water pumps at Chanter St.
To review the draft flood plan and to make a submission, visit tinyurl.com/rdue6bsv
The public exhibition period will close at 4pm on Wednesday, May 28.
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