By Matthew Sims
Melbourne Water (MW) has closed submissions into its review of the October 2022 Maribyrnong River flood.
The review received more than 60 submissions, including submissions from the Victoria Racing Club (VRC), Maribyrnong council and MW itself.
MW’s submission to the review outlined a number of questions requiring investigation, including the impact of the operation of the river gauge network on flood forecasting, the performance of the mitigation works to counter for the impact of the Flemington flood wall and planning decisions in relation to Rivervue retirement village.
The submission outlined MW has already taken action to improve its services, including updating the Maribyrnong River flood models and revising flood modelling in light of climate change projections.
Former Federal and Victorian Supreme Court judge Tony Pagone AM has stepped up to lead the review.
The review will include an examination of the causes and contributors to the flood event, including any potential impacts of the Flemington Racecourse flood wall and any impact of prior works or activities in the urban catchment on flood levels, while specific policy responses, future potential mitigation measures, overall emergency responses, flood recovery, and broad planning matters would be outside the scope of the review.
At 8.15am on Thursday, October 13, MW sent the first major flood warning for the upper Maribyrnong catchment to the Bureau of Meterology, with MW then sending a moderate flood warning for the lower Maribyrnong to the bureau after receiving a revised rainfall forecast.
At about 12.30am on Friday, October 14, MW identified that the actual height in the Maribyrnong River exceeded the levels that models had predicted, with MW upgrading the flood warning to ‘exceeding major’ at 2.16am, which was issued by the Bureau at 2.27am.
MW’s submission made no claims in regards to the impact the Flemington Racecourse flood wall had on the flood event, outlining that at least 12 months of modelling would likely need to occur.
“A complex hydraulic and hydrologic model would need to be completed,“ the submission read.
Maribyrnong flood victim Lee Lanzafame was in the process of renovating his Clyde Street home, which his grandfather built in 1974, when 1.1 metres of water breached the walls with little to no warning whilst he and his family were sleeping.
“The money and time they spent on doing their own submission should have been spent on door-knocking the 606-plus properties to obtain their experiences, to observe the damage, and to show some empathy,“ he said.
Details: yoursay.melbournewater.com.au/maribyrnong-river-flood-review
