GMW needs to address 'multiple issues' with Loch Garry: landholder

GMW is reviewing the asset and future state of the Loch Garry flood regulator, a 48 bay structure on the Goulburn River, at Bunbartha.

The loch, near Bunbartha, provides protection from minor to moderate flooding from the Goulburn River for downstream landowners.

GMW Strategy and Service Planning general manager Steven Abbott said GMW was holding a drop-in session on April 23, where a number of aspects of the regulator would be explained.

"We know there is a lot of community interest in Loch Garry and the future of the flood protection service - particularly with the floods the region has experienced in recent years - so the open day is a fantastic chance for people to come along, share their thoughts and find out more," Mr Abbott said.

Information presented at the session, and conversations with participants, would help provide insight into the various factors being considered as part of GMW's review of the regulator's future, he said.

Issues with Loch Garry were highlighted, during last year's inquiry into the October 2022 floods.

The Grinter family, who run 2500 hectares of sheep and crop production near Kaarimba, said problems at Loch Garry, in October 2022, resulted in the loss of about 85 per cent of their wheat and canola crops.

Stuart Grinter said positive outcomes would depend on whether or not GMW listened to those who attended the drop-in session.

"There are multiple issues in this whole Loch Garry debate," he said.

He said the Loch Garry regulator and nine kilometres of levy bank were owned by the state government and controlled by GMW.

"They (GMW) repaired the nine kilometres of levy banks around Loch Garry, post the 2022-floods, but you have the rest of the river levy banks still sitting there with the holes in them from the 2022 floods," he said.

"Nobody takes responsibility for them.

"One can't function without the other - Loch Garry is no good without the river levies and the river levies are no good without Loch Garry."

As part of the review into Loch Garry, GMW had received funding to do a flood study.

"That has to be a study that goes wider than just the Loch Garry area, it has to take in the river levies," he said.

"There have been plenty of flood studies done in the past and every one has come up with the same conclusion

"That is the best way to address flooding issues is to have some water go out on both sides of the Goulburn River, rather than force it all out on one side."

Mr Grinter's uncle Jim who lives downstream from Loch Garry at Kaarimba, said he believed the "whole thing is a disgrace."

"We have about 1011 hectares here, the only piece of land I had out of the floodwaters was about 1.6ha around the house and that was because I put a 1-1.5 metre bank around it, some ten years ago."

"We lost everything."

He said landowners around Loch Garry paid a levy, to help with the upkeep of the system.

"We are the only ones who pay flood protection and we are the only ones that get flooded out, I have a bit of a sense of humour, but that stretches it," he said.

Water used to go down the south-side of the Goulburn river, he said.

"But there is no outlet on the south side of the river now, unless they get a levy bank failure," Mr Grinter said

"The bank is up to eight or 10 feet high, in places, you build the water up to that height then the levy bank breaks, as it did in 2022, and you just get a wall of water coming down through here."

He said the government had "walked away" from doing anything with the private levy banks and it was not viable for landowners to fix them.

The Loch Garry: Past, Present and Future drop-in will take place on Tuesday April 23 between 1-3pm at the Bunbartha Community Centre, Barmah-Shepparton Rd, Bunbartha.

People can stay up to date with these opportunities on GMW's YourSay page: https://yoursay.gmwater.com.au/loch-garry-FSS