A local council has warned South Australians to prepare for floods as water flow increases from La Niña events.
Mark Dutton, who owns the second lowest-lying shack in Morgan, told ABC he received a flood warning from his local council – and his shack has been inundated twice already.
“You've got to be sensible and say when we purchased that shack, we knew where we were purchasing it, so you can't be surprised that rivers flood — that's what they do,” Dutton told ABC, adding that he had to move furniture and clean up the aftermath of the flood.
“Effectively, your place becomes the bottom of the river, so you've got to clean all that mud and silt and muck out of there. So, it's a bit of a menace. It's a bit unpleasant,” he added.
Actuaries Institute's latest Climate Index, an objective measure of extreme weather conditions and sea-level changes, said La Niña already started in November 2021.
Meanwhile, the Department of Environment and Water (DEW) said the water flowing over the border peaked in December 2021 at around 37 gigalitres per day in winter and has dropped to around 28 gigalitres per day. However, sustained rainfall through autumn and winter meant unregulated flow will continue.
Chrissie Bloss, water delivery manager at the Department of Environment and Water (DEW), said it takes approximately 40 gigalitres per day to provide benefits to floodplains.
“We've had some really good barrage discharge, which has helped freshen the Coorong. It's been really great from the Lower Lakes environment,” Bloss said, as reported by ABC. “At 40 gigalitres per day, [DEW] will issue high-flow advice just so people are aware the river is moving faster and the water levels will be raised.
“If the forecast gets up to 60 gigalitres per day, that's when a minor flood warning would be issued for the shack areas between Morgan and Mannum, but at the moment, there's no indication the river will get that high.”
DEW will undertake floodplain watering and weir raising across late winter and spring and turn on regulators at Chowilla, Pike, and Katarapko.
