General News
13 October, 2022
Skinners Flat - shire statement
Loddon Shire chief executive officer Lincoln Fitzgerald has just spoken with the Loddon Herald and issued the following statement regarding Skinners Flat and the evacuation in Wedderburn this morning,Mr Fitzgerald saidWith existing high water levels...
Loddon Shire chief executive officer Lincoln Fitzgerald has just spoken with the Loddon Herald and issued the following statement regarding Skinners Flat and the evacuation in Wedderburn this morning,
Mr Fitzgerald said
With existing high water levels of Skinners Flat we sought specialist advice to prepare for it to spill. Advice was to lower the concrete spillway by approximately 1ft. The reason was to lower the freeboard of water (distance from the water to the top of the wall). Water topping the bank is very bad as it can scour the wall quickly creating failure as opposed to the spillway which is designed to carry water.
In addition, yesterday afternoon a small army of staff undertook sandbagging the lowest point of the wall to raise it by approximately 200mm and prevent water topping the wall. Approximately 20% of the inflow to the reservoir was also diverted.
This work was relatively successful with the water level being lowered initially, however with significant rainfall local falls yesterday this level went up very quickly. As a result of this rainfall, large volumes went through the spillway. This large volume has made a very large hole in the side of the spillway where it meets the bank. Again, a specialist engineer was on site and identified that this poses a major risk of failure and in consultation with the Incident Control Centre, other experts and Victoria Police the decision was made to evacuate.
Our flood model allowed council staff, CFA and Victoria Police to evacuate approximately 65 people to Wedderburn Hall.
Contractors and Council staff have been on site overnight at Skinners Flat undertaking repairs. The first hole has been repaired, however as the water reduced and spread, a second hole has been identified. The second hole will be repaired throughout this morning and we hope that this matter will be resolved around lunchtime allowing these community members to return home.
I would like to thank Council staff, CFA members and Victoria Police for their assistance. I would also like to thank the community members for their understanding during this difficult period.
As we finalise this issue, we are now already in the process of preparing for the Loddon River to reach major flood levels similar to 2011. This water is expected to reach Newbridge late this morning and Bridgewater around 5-6pm.