Improving levee management
The Department for Environment and Water (DEW) is undertaking a set of initiatives to improve levee management following major flood events in the Gawler River catchment in 2016 and along the River Murray in 2022-23.
Project deliverables
- Deliver a statewide policy for levee management that provides a definition, roles and responsibilities, categorisation and high level principles
- Develop guidelines for sustainable design, construction and maintenance of levees
- Develop proposals to make the approval process for levees clearer and simpler
- Begin reconstruction of a third Gawler River levee using lessons learnt from pilot works
- Continue data collection on existing levees to meet the needs of state government and other stakeholders
Levee dataset
The South Australian levee dataset (pdf) is maintained by DEW and being used to inform this project. Points on the map indicate the general location of levees. The full dataset can be accessed via the LocationSA map viewer.
Project updates
The department has successfully repaired sections of priority levees along the Gawler River. This pilot initiative delivered on-ground restoration works across 400 metres of levees at two key sites:
- The north side of the river near Old Port Wakefield Road
- The south side of the river involving multiple private properties
Frequently asked questions
A levee is an embankment or wall of earth along a river to hold the water in the river channel during a flood. The purpose of a levee is to protect the area behind the levee from flooding.
Levees reduce the likelihood of flooding and the risks of flooding to life, assets and the environment. Levees can be permanently in place nearby a river or temporary as required in a flood event.
An effective levee is constructed in the right position near a river, allowing space for flood waters but stopping them from flooding people’s houses, sheds, properties, crops or other infrastructure and buildings.
They are designed to a height and constructed with the right materials so that when the river is flooding, the water stays in the river channel, up to a certain flood level. Levees reduce the risk of flood, but do not eliminate that risk completely.
Sometimes levees break during floods even when the flood level is lower than the levee. This can happen if the levee was not constructed properly or has not been maintained. Causes of levee faults can include:
- Burrowing animals
- Rotting tree roots
- Settling or cracking
- Seepage (foundation material is allowing water through the levee)
- Slumping (a part of the levee has collapsed)
Even a well-designed and maintained levee can be overtopped if a flood is greater than what the levee was designed to protect from.
Yes! You can find levees in many parts of South Australia, including:
- Extensive levees on the River Murray at Renmark and the lower River Murray, and smaller sections at Paringa, Lyrup and Berri.
- Levees on the Gawler River, Little Para River, Dry Creek, Onkaparinga River, River Torrens and Hindmarsh River.
View the South Australian levee dataset (pdf).
Contact
Email: DEWFloodProjects@sa.gov.au
Lower Murray Reclaimed Irrigation Area (LMRIA) levees are in scope of the statewide policy, however works on these levees are being delivered by the Intermediate remediation of LMRIA levees project.
