Farmers are raising questions over the management of Loch Garry after the structure failed to be operated in accordance with the Loch Garry agreement, established in legislation.
Goulburn-Murray Water is required to lift bars on the structure, which releases water from the loch onto the lower Goulburn floodplain, when the Goulburn River height reaches 10.36 metres at Shepparton.
It protects land on the lower Goulburn floodplain from moderate flooding.
The rules require progressive removal of the bars at Loch Garry 24 hours after the river height exceeds 10.36m on the Goulburn River’s Shepparton gauge.
All bars are to be removed from the structure 24 hours after the river height reaches 10.96m.
On Saturday, October 15, the Goulburn River reached 10.36m at the Shepparton gauge and G-MW staff began removing bars on Sunday, October 16.
Because of the size of the flood, staff were unable to safely remove all the bars.
Farmers interviewed by Country News, and who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they did not expect the staff to put themselves at risk by continuing to pull the bars, but the problem raised questions about how the structure is operated during flood times.
“It’s 2022, why do we have a structure which has to be manually operated when many of the water control structures around the district can be operated remotely?” one farmer told Country News.
Farmers have been told a more modern structure could cost millions of dollars, but they answer that a flood protection levy is being paid by farmers downstream and that money could go towards the cost.
Farmers were also annoyed there was some delay between the problems with operating Loch Garry and the public announcement of what had happened.
G-MW is promising a review of the operating rules, including the notification process and adaptability of the rules.