The first weir was built in the early 1900s, with the current structure built in 1984 as part of a project to revitalise the town. During regular flows, the weir holds the river back, creating a weir pool through the town.
The 2022 and 2023 floods caused erosion in a bend of the river downstream of the weir. Further flooding could see more erosion, connecting two parts of the river and bypassing the weir.
“That would mean a dry river through town in the summer months,” North Central CMA Flood Recovery Program Manager Shenandoah Bruce said.
“We know how important the weir and the river are to the local community, and this work will ensure things stay the way the town wants them.”
Mr Bruce said the work would involve creating two rock chutes at the impacted area.
“The larger floods aren’t really an issue, because the water goes over the top and is a similar height on both sides of the weir,” he said.
“The trouble comes with the more frequent floods, the one-in-five-year events, when the water level downstream is lower.
“This causes erosion that will only get worse if nothing is done.”
Works will begin in late February, partly closing the weir’s car park. A temporary track will be built across the river for construction access only.
Mr Bruce said climate change made work such as this even more important.
“Our region has always experienced droughts, floods, fires and heatwaves. Climate change increases the frequency, severity and duration of these events,” he said.
“Short-term extreme rainfall events, like summer storms, have already begun to increase in intensity, and these are the types of events that could cause further damage.
“Science isn’t sitting on the fence about whether climate change is happening. Neither are we. We’re teaming up our local communities to protect and safeguard our waterways, our economies and the recreation activities we love.”
This project is jointly funded by the Australian and Victorian governments under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements and is undertaken in partnership with Buloke Shire Council.
Work is expected to be completed by May.
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