The Government of South Australia, five local councils and the Stormwater Management Authority have reached an agreement on a $140 million infrastructure project to safeguard against flooding in the Brown Hill and Keswick Creek catchment – the most at risk area for flooding in Adelaide.
Project Chair and City of West Torrens CEO, Terry Buss, said that this agreement was a major milestone and welcome news for the wider community.
“Crucially, it provides an opportunity to get on with works that will ultimately improve the standard of flood protection for homes and properties across the catchment,” he said.
“It’s been a complex project requiring an enormous amount of work and collaboration between the five catchment councils, their communities and many other stakeholders.”
Water and River Murray Minister, Ian Hunter, said that it was disappointing that the Turnbull Government was not partnering with the State Government and councils on major stormwater projects.
“Given the mitigation of flood impacts on the Adelaide Airport and the extent to which the works will reduce the need for costly compensation from a future flood event in the catchment, there is clearly an argument for joint investment by the Commonwealth,” he said.
The flood mitigation works detailed in the Brown Hill and Keswick Creek Stormwater Management Plan, which has been 10 years in the making, will reduce the number of properties affected by a 1-in-100 year flood event by nearly 98 per cent, said City of West Torrens in its release.
The infrastructure project will deliver about 73 full-time jobs during construction.
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