Report makes 23 recommendations to SA government after River Murray 2022 floods

ABC NEWS (Australia)

It was a Christmas many living along the Murray River won’t forget when floodwaters rose to one of the highest levels on record in South Australia. A review into the government’s 2022 flood response has been handed down and has found problems with levee maintenance and funding and the action of some agencies.

Transcript

00:00Two and a half years ago, local communities watched on as the River Murray slowly rose

00:07to its third highest level on record in South Australia.

00:10By Boxing Day 2022, water levels had peaked in Renmark as flows across the border reached

00:16186 gigalitres a day.

00:19Long after the water has receded, an inquiry reviewing the state government's response

00:23to the emergency has found some agencies fell short of community expectations.

00:27In total, 23 recommendations were handed down in the select committee's final report.

00:33They're centred around improvements to communication, levy maintenance and funding.

00:38The committee found state government-owned levies hadn't been constructed and maintained

00:41to hold back such a high volume of water.

00:45The report also said the government's procurement processes during the flood recovery lacked

00:49transparency and recommended the Auditor-General conduct a review.

00:53The criticism emerged from confusion around a $56 million flood clean-up contract, which

00:59was awarded to a Melbourne-based contractor, even though local businesses were ready to help.

01:04Committee Chair and Opposition Water Spokesperson Nicola Centafanti is calling on the government

01:09to adopt all of the recommendations.

01:11Premier Peter Malinowska says that will be taken under review.

01:14This is one of the worst natural disasters the state had ever seen.

01:17The volume of water was astronomical, and the fact that we're able to get through it in

01:23the way that we did, I think, is a great credit to all the men and women that worked so hard

01:27on the ground.

01:28The Premier says work has already started on improving early warning systems and flood recovery

01:33efforts.

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