Goulburn-Murray Water has established a 13-member committee to review the service requirements of the Loch Garry Flood Protection District infrastructure and its operating rules.
The Loch Garry Reference Committee is made up of 13 members representing various stakeholder groups.
GMW Incident and Recovery general manager Peter Clydesdale said there was a high calibre of applicants.
"It was a very competitive selection process with a lot of high quality applications," he said.
"The committee is a diverse group, but they all share a sound understanding of Loch Garry and have strong community ties.
"I am confident they will be good representatives of both the Loch Garry customers and the broader public."
Stuart Grinter, Kaarimba, whose family was badly affected by last year's floods, welcomed the move, but expressed concerns about the outcome.
Their property was flooded by the nearby Loch Garry regulator, which GMW said was supposed to offer protection to landholders in the lower Goulburn River from minor to moderate flooding.
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His uncle, James, is part of the committee.
"I am not 100 per cent sure what direction G-MW want to head in, with their reference committee," Mr Grinter said.
'If you look back over the last 100 years, every time there is a major flooding event they have an inquiry into it and all they do is completely waste money and time and after three or four years, when the heat has gone out of it, they do nothing anyway."
He said he was hopeful G-MW would listen to feedback, this time.
"There is no one particular thing you can do to stop flooding in the lower Goulburn River."
Mr Grinter said it appeared authorities wanted to send all of south-east Victoria's drainage water down to Loch Garry.
"Then they present it to us and say 'here you go, it's your problem' and we are expected to pay for the privilege of disposing of it," he said.
"To expect a small group of landholders to pay for disposing of the wider communities water just doesn't work - we can't afford to maintain banks adequately.
"Trying to charge 116 landowners to dispose of a third of Victoria's water, and wonder why its not done very well, means it's not done very well - they need to find some more money, from someehere else, and do it properly."
He called for an independent inquiry into G-MW's decisions during last year's floods.
"The first place they need to start is their own operations, on the day," he said.
"Not only did they let themselves down, but they also let down the wider community.
"Someone else needs to hold an inquiry into them, in conjunction with their review."
The independent chair of the committee with be Cath Botta.
She will be joined by GMW Loch Garry customers Colin Gilby, James Grinter, John Pettigrew, Mackenzie Craig and Linton Ryan.
Community representatives are Dennis Patterson, Matthew Price and Natalie Akers, while the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority is represented by Guy Tierney.
Moira Shire council representative is Councillor Wayne Limbrick, while G-MW will be represented by Greg Shannon and the city of Greater Shepparton by Peter Harriott.
The committee will have its first meeting on Monday, February 13.
"There will still be a chance for people who are not part of the committee to have their say on the Loch Garry Flood Protection District infrastructure and its operating rules," Mr Clydesdale said.
"People can stay up-to-date with these engagement opportunities by heading to https://yoursay.gmwater.com.au/loch-garry-reference-committee"
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Andrew Miller
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
