New flood gauges constructed in the Broken Creek Catchment

Published on 23 November 2018

Seven new flood gauges have recently been completed in the Broken Creek catchment.

They will provide the community and emergency services with near real time information to monitor rainfall and river levels and respond to the flooding risk at Numurkah. The gauges’ construction is the first outcome of an initiative by Moira Shire Council, supported by the Victorian and Commonwealth governments, to develop a new flood warning service for the Numurkah community.

The Department of Environment Land Water and Planning (DELWP) funded the construction of the new gauges.

Once commissioned, Moira Shire Council will own the new assets and fund their maintenance through the Northern Regional Water Monitoring Partnership (Partnership).

Commissioning of the new sites will start on 22 November by the Bureau of Meteorology (the Bureau) and near real time data will gradually become available on the Bureau web site here.

The Bureau will also use data collected at the gauges to improve the understanding of flooding in the catchment, build a flood forecasting model and, with time, provide flood predictions for Numurkah.

The new gauges and parameters measured (water level and or rain) are listed hereafter:

1. Broken Creek at Numurkah (Melville Street), water level

2. Broken Creek at Larissa Road, water level

3. Nine Mile Creek at Sellick's Road, water level

4. Muckatah Ck at Nahring Hall Road, water level

5. Muckatah Ck at Katamatite East School Road, water level and rain

6. Dookie Water Storage, rain

7. Goorambat, rain

In addition, construction of another water level gauge is planned during December 2018 on the Broken Creek upstream of Katamatite at School Road.