Griffith City Council has announced that a new pump and pipeline commissioned to address high water levels at Lake Wyangan are now fully operational.
The water level in Lake Wyangan reached a record high due to continual rainfall events in 2022 and additional runoff from the catchment to the north. This resulted in the flooding of two residential houses, Jones Road causeway and associated buildings and infrastructure around the foreshore of the North Lake.
On 10 January 2023 Council resolved to allocate funds to construct a new flood pump and pipeline to enable excess flood water to be removed out Lake Wyangan and pumped into the drainage network connecting to the Barren Box Storage and Wetlands system.
As with all other flood situations within the Griffith LGA, Council works in collaboration with Murrumbidgee Irrigation (MI) to get the best outcomes for the community.
The newly installed pump is capable of extracting approximately 20 ML per day and is operating around the clock to extract as much water as possible to ensure all flood affected infrastructure is back above water level. The pumping is expected to continue into spring this year and for as long as MI’s network can sustain the additional Lake water.
Griffith Mayor Doug Curran praised local contractors and key water and sewer staff for their proactive response in getting the project up to speed quickly. He also thanked Murrumbidgee Irrigation for their ongoing support for this project.
“This project was borne out of a disaster and we still have a house under water that we want to rescue, I really feel for the family affected by this excess water. I especially want to call out the sensational work done by so many Griffith City Council staff, the work will have an immediate effect and long-term benefits, thank you one and all,” he said.
Director of Utilities, Graham Gordon “this has been a real team effort, a big thank you to the local property owners who cooperated unconditionally with Council’s Utilities staff to allow access and construction activity to occur where needed.”
Local contractors such as Armstrong’s Plant Hire and Flow Smart were part of the key expertise, along with the Council staff in the Utilities Department, that helped deliver this project in such a short time frame. It made a challenging project easier with this type of knowledge, commitment and hard work.
On 4 August 2022 and 14 September 2022, the Griffith Local Government Area, along with numerous other Local Government Areas, was declared a disaster on the basis of severe weather and flooding.
