Flood gauges in the shire

MURRINDINDI Shire Council was asked to provide information about the potential installation of flood gauges for the Yea River and Murrindindi River due to their importance in the area.

They were asked whether there was any action in this area, and whether they were directly responsible.

They responded, “The installation and maintenance of river gauges in Murrindindi Shire is shared among local water authorities, Catchment Management Authorities, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) and councils.

“Murrindindi Shire Council has been advocating to Ministers and DEECA for a suite of rain and river gauges to provide timely and informed advice to emergency services.

This advice should then be available to the community through the VicEmergency app and communication channels.

“Council recently supported DEECA to install a new automated river gauge on the Goulburn River at Molesworth.

“Council is also actively working with the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority (GBCMA) on several flood modelling projects aimed at improving community flood readiness and enhancing flood intelligence data for Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES), the control emergency response agency for flood events.

“As part of these projects, we are working with DEECA to install an additional gauge at the junction of Yea and Murrindindi Rivers.

“It is important to note that many locations in Murrindindi Shire are susceptible to flash flooding due to the steep valleys that characterise the region.

In such cases, river gauges are often not useful as there is insufficient time for the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) to collect…