Kaarimba cropper Jim Grinter expects his harvest will be a 100 per cent write-off.
But he’s not angry about it — instead, he’s angry about failing levee banks along Loch Garry and the Goulburn River.
Loch Garry sits west of Bunbartha, holding Goulburn River water and protecting farms built on a floodplain.
When it floods, Loch Garry serves as a pressure release valve, pouring Goulburn water into the floodplains.
“So much water spills from Loch Garry that when it hits Barmah the Murray River starts running backwards and tries to go up the Edwards River,” Mr Grinter said.
On Sunday, October 16, Goulburn-Murray Water pulled several bars at Loch Garry, spilling water into farmland owned by Mr Grinter.
Typically it takes four days for the water to clear, but Mr Grinter said not enough bars were pulled.
“They got three bars out but there are 10 or 12 bars in the structure,” he said.
“Not pulling the bars has pushed more water downstream and broken levee banks in Undera and Kotupna. The banks have blown out in at least five places that I know of.”
With busted levee banks, Mr Grinter predicts water will spill uncontrollably for six weeks.
His crops might have survived a four-day flood — but there is no hope of them outlasting several weeks in water.
“I’m not complaining about the water. We live on a floodplain, it’ll flood sometimes. But I pay flood protection rates for G-MW to go up there and pull those bars out,” he said.
G-MW’s response was provided by G-MW emergency coordinator Sam Green.
“We began removing bars from Loch Garry 24 hours after the Goulburn River reached 10.36m at the Shepparton Gauge. This is in line with the Loch Garry Flood Protection Operating Rule,” Mr Green said.
“Staff began removing bars at Loch Garry at 12pm on Sunday 16 October. By this stag the Loch water level was quickly rising.
“Staff were able to remove approximately half of the bars at the loch before rising water levels meant it was physically impossible and unsafe for them to continue.”
Mr Grinter said he tried to ring G-MW three times before the flood came and no one picked up the phone.
“I called several different numbers, including the 24/7 hotline but it rang for 15 minutes and no one answers,” Mr Grinter said.
“The only person I was able to get a hold of was David Irvine who used to run Loch Garry but he’s since moved onto the Hume and Darthmouth. He told me to contact the Shepp office but they don’t list their number in the phone book. My wife looked up Google and it said they weren’t answering their phones.”
Mr Grinter used to sit on the Loch Garry Committee before it was disbanded.
The view from the road
Invergordon cropper Eddie Rovers spent the weekend driving his grain into Melbourne.
“We are getting grain out via Benalla ... the ship leaves tomorrow (Tuesday) and you have to get it all onboard,” Mr Rovers said.
“The crops around the place are looking all right. You see ones sitting in water but they aren’t suffering yet. Canola is lying down, but the wheat is all right.
“Harvest begins in three weeks — it should be interesting. You can’t get staff, you can’t get machinery in the paddocks, you can’t get machinery serviced, diesel is expensive.
“It’s a whole range of things impacting us, not just the floodwater.”
Mr Rover has also experienced the infamous potholes.
“Bloody hell, the potholes on the highway. Oh my god, you see cars every day on the side of the road with broken wheels.
I saw one yesterday who broke his steering arms. The two front wheels were arguing with each other on what way to go. He must’ve hit that pothole hard.”