Troubled waters: Carnarvon farmers demanding independent review into 2021 flood damage

A group of Carnarvon farmers say they are still searching for answers more than a year on from a flood which devastated their land and crops. The Carnarvon Growers Association says certain areas, especially the western part of its agriculture region, have been left worse off from flood mitigation works completed in 2014. Last year’s floods were the first time the $60 million infrastructure was tested and it failed that test, according to the CGA. Anthony Vrankovich, chairman of CGA’s Flood Plain Working Group, has started a petition calling for an immediate review into the impact of levees built on Boundary Road in 1990 and South River Road in 2014. Levees are built to reduce the impact of large-scale floods but Mr Vrankovich says they had the opposite effect for farms in the Kingsford area — where there are about 60 horticulture properties. “These farms in the area never used to have flood impact,” he said. “Not that they didn’t get flooding, but they didn’t have flood impact. “The Boundary Road levee protected the town, but we are bearing the brunt of it now.” Mr Vrankovich said farmers were promised the 2014 works — a response to the devastating 2010 flood which caused $90 million damage — would minimise losses if another disaster struck. Then water minister Mia Davies said the 2014 flood levees would mitigate any further large-scale floods in the area. But Mr Vrankovich said that didn’t come to pass last year when the Gascoyne River overflowed. “I just want to have what I had before and not be flooded out and have soil erosion,” he said. “I believe we are entitled to compensation. These farms will never be the same ever again. “We are living in a nightmare.” More than 60 Carnarvon farms were damaged in the 2021 floods, according to a report released by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation in June. The report identified the Southern River Road levee could have contributed to increased flooding in certain areas. But it said levees successfully diverted floodwaters away from plantations between South River Road and the North West Coastal Highway. Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan said the State Government convened a working group in August to consider what could be done to improve management of the Carnarvon floodplain. “The working group includes State and local government representatives, as well as three representatives from the Carnarvon Growers Association,” she said. “The Carnarvon Growers Association has been an active participant on the working group and raised the concerns of Kingsford growers, which have been taken into consideration. “The working group is currently finalising a draft report to release for community consultation.” Ms MacTiernan said flooding was unavoidable in an area like Carnarvon. “Periodic flooding of the Carnarvon floodplain is a natural event that happens around once a decade,” she said. “Our Government established a $1 million fund following last year’s floods to support soil restoration, floodplain management and a review of catchment management.” Frustrated by a lack of communication, local vegetable grower Phil Frzop was critical of how long it took for replacement soil to arrive on his property and the little to no word on when the Government’s report would be ready. “They haven’t done enough, basically. They’ve tried to put the blame on anyone bar themselves. “Our land still hasn’t recovered. Now we are one of the more affected farms. It cost us six or eight months income.” Carnarvon Shire president Eddie Smith, who farms in the Kingsford area, said he understood the frustrations of farmers but pleaded for patience until the draft report was released. “It has stalled a little bit due to COVID restrictions — I share the frustration,” he said. “But you’ve got to put science behind this stuff, you can’t go off hearsay. “We’ve had one experience since the flood mitigation levees were finished in 2014. “I can’t say whether things have got better or worse because we haven’t had an equivalent flood since 2010.”