Upper Goulburn River farmers - hit by flooding three times in 12 months - have expressed alarm at delays to the release of the Lake Eildon operating rules review.
The lake flows into the Goulburn and producers have called for a reduction in the amount of water held in the storage, to mitigate against flooding.
The Victorian government said a final report by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) would now not be made public until March next year.
A state government spokesperson said the government acknowledged the impact of last year's floods and the stress and anxiety felt by communities during recent rainfall events, the spokesperson said.
"The primary purpose of Lake Eildon is to provide a safe and secure water supply while offering some flood mitigation where possible," the spokesperson said.
"DEECA is undertaking a technical assessment at Lake Eildon in consultation with the community, local councils, water corporations and the Goulburn-Broken Catchment Management Authority to determine if changing the way, the storage is operated could help to mitigate flooding downstream and the implications of these changes."
Options being assessed included changes to the target filling curve for Lake Eildon and a reduction in targetting full storage levels.
The spokesperson said the decision to delay the report's release followed feedback from water corporations, councils and the Goulburn-Broken Catchment Management Authority, recognising the significant amount of work required to undertake the options assessments.
DEECA said they'd been told sufficient time was needed to complete the work effectively.
But producers on the Goulburn River, between Lake Eildon and Yea, said they hadn't been consulted on the DEECA report and were dismayed by the delay.
Yea beef producer Jan Beer said it was simply not good enough to delay the report, until next year.
"We all know how slowly the wheels turn in government and no-one who resides or farms below Eildon Weir wants to go into a repeat year, such as has occurred in 2022 and 2023," Ms Beer.
Paddocks on her property, being kept for silage, were inundated in this month's flood.
"Landowners who are severely impacted should have the ability to see and read this flood inquiry report in draft form, so that they can have input as to whether decisions made will in their opinion actually improve current circumstances," Ms Beer said.
"This draft report should at least be available by the end of this year."
Jock Blakeney manages properties in the Whanregarwen area and said he had lost about 50 hectares of potential silage, in the latest flood.
"They have gone under water and we will no longer be able to cut them, they have all been re-sown after last year's floods, so that's a bit disappointing," he said.
He said he'd be unable to get machinery on the paddocks.
"It's a frustrating process, the Water Minister (Harriet Shing) hasn't done anything to help us, or go out of her way at all."
He said there was no change in how Lake Eildon was managed, despite the three floods in 12 months.
"We are fairly disappointed that the report is not a priority and it's been pushed out for so long, because that can have an effect on the infill curves and that could help us," he said.
"There is no emphasis on this, and it's frustrating to have the time pushed out."
He said he felt farmers had not been consulted, adequately, although DEECA had been to two meetings, in the Molesworth Hall during winter.
Contractor Andrew Perry, who lives in the Whanregarwen-Molesworth area said the DEECA report was initially intended for release in December.
"We are exhausted by the ongoing floods," he said.
"We have been on flood watch for 18 months - if the report is not released until March next year, it will be close to two years living with an imminent flood threat.
It appeared G-MW was seeking to have Lake Eildon filled by November 1, after initially setting that target for October.
"With the lake nearing 100 pc full, the change in date from October to November makes very, very little difference, in the lake's capacity to withstand a big weather event," Mr Perry said.
"There is very little ability to protect the community downstream from a thunderstorm event - of which we get very many, this time of the year."
He said there was a heavy financial impact from the floods.
"You can't operate a business, in an emergency situation, year on year - you need stability," he said.
"There is a very large structure, up in the valley there, and you would hope it would offer some assistance in providing certainty to farmers."
He said the state "can't afford this style of management, considering our dire economic situation.
"We can't keep having an impact on agriculture, with it being one of the few ways we might pay our way out of our current financial situation."
Goulburn Valley Trout Farm director Ed Meggitt said the government was "dragging its feet."
He questioned why the primary role of Lake Eildon was to harvest and store irrigation water, not for flood mitigation.
He said after the devastating 2011 Queensland floods immediate changes were made to the operating procedures at Wivenhoe Dam.
"Wivenhoe Dam has a specific remit to flood mitigate, whereas the obligation on Eildon to flood mitigate is tempered by the wording in the Water Act 1989," Mr Meggitt said.
Wivenhoe and Somerset dams were designed for, and operated, for dual purposes, to provide water supply and mitigate flood flows in the Brisbane River, he said.
The obligation on Goulburn Murray Water in relation to Lake Eildon was not as clear, with the authority seeing its primary role as to harvest and store water entitlements and to mitigate flooding "where possible."
Mr Meggitt said the Water Act should be amended to remove the "where possible" clause.
"Eildon should increase its flood storage compartment to help mitigate floods, the absolute volume of the flood the flood storage compartment should be between 18 and 8 per cent of total dam volume," he said.
There should be an immediate change made to the lake's operational full supply level (OFSL), to reduce pressure on downstream communities, while the flood inquiry took place.
"The OFSL should be changed according to climate indicators," Mr Meggitt said.
"In 2022, all indicators were predicting a wet winter and spring, but no change was made to the OFSL of Lake Eildon.
"The minister should be able to declare a temporary full supply level."
He also called for greater transparency, around the operations of Lake Eildon, saying the Wivenhoe and Somerset Dam manual of operational procedures for flood mitigation was "easily obtainable and transparent,
"Unfortunately, one of the frustrations with GMW is the lack of detail around flood mitigation and constant hedging," Mr Meggitt said.
"Many of our understandings of what happens in a flood are based on snippets of information and lived experience.
"GMW must surely have a flood emergency procedures document that steps them through a flood incident."
GMW should produce and make public an Eildon Dam Manual of Operational Proceedures for Flood Mitigation, similar to that for Wivenhoe, he said.
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.
