Levee plans under the microscope

FLOOD mitigation measures along Bendigo Creek, including the possibility of levee works between the Midland Highway to Leans Road in Huntly are being looked at by the City of Greater Bendigo.

The investigation is part of the municipality’s flood resilience planning with money for the study allocated in the 2023/24 budget and director of presentation and assets Brian Westley said it will focus on two main areas.

“There’s an area from Racecourse Creek to the Midland Highway in Ascot and then there’s also from Howard Street, Epsom to Leans Road in Huntley,” he said.

“$360,000 is the city’s allocation. This will be matched by an allocation from the Federal Government and it’s an investigation for creek levees or creek levee works in the Epsom, Ascot and Huntley areas.”

Mr Westley said the study is the first step in a process aimed at reducing creek flooding in the area.

“The purpose of the project is to look at the existing infrastructure in place and what happens in those areas in extreme weather events,” he said.

“Then what improvements could be done to the creek and to the levees to increase flood resiliency within the area.

“The study will go into, if we were to introduce certain initiatives and interventions, what would be the improvements we’d see and how much might that cost.”

Money will also be spent on other works in the area to help with water pooling during heavy rainfall.

“Each year we also do instream works along Bendigo Creek predominantly,” he said. “Where we try to restore the health of the creek, but also improve flood resiliency.

“We do that by potentially providing more storage areas. We are possibly introducing a chain of ponds and that slows down the water and gives it an opportunity for better storage outcomes.

“We will be getting rid of silt which takes up space and by getting rid of it we provide increased storage capacity.”