Irrigation groups say the South Australian government must complete works on vulnerable levee banks in Renmark within weeks to prepare for incoming flows.
Up to 120 gigalitres of water a day is forecast to come down the Murray River by early December — the highest level of flows since the 1970s.
As engineers and flood planners today visit the sites of concern, irrigators have called on Renmark Paringa Council and private landholders to cooperate with the state government to get the upgrades swiftly completed.
South Australian Murray Irrigators chair Caren Martin said the actions were prudent but long overdue and needed to be completed by November.
"This is something that's been flagged by communities for many years now but a lot of people didn't think we'd get a flood this big again," she said.
"So it wasn't seen as a high priority, and now here we are, it is a high priority."
She said rabbit holes, erosion, and wear over time had created some cracks in the banks which needed reinforcing.
Upgrade bill unknown
Renmark Paringa Mayor Neil Martinson said a study commissioned by the council found it could cost millions of dollars to fix the district's more than 100 kilometres of levee banks.
"The consultants came up with a figure of approximately $4 million to rectify some of the banks," he said.
He said he was interested to see what initial assessments from engineers revealed, as the levee bank behind the town's hospital was built after the 1956 floods.
"They just pushed all the materials up behind the hospital, put it together and there's not the consolidation there should be when building a bank there," Mr Martinson said.
"In 1957, councils were told [by the state government] to accept responsibility [for the levees] and council had no idea what that would mean in the future.
"I think there's enough time to fix it but the cost of doing that work over the next four to six weeks is an issue as the council hasn't budgeted for anything of this money so obviously we'll be looking for state government assistance."
Many of the district's banks are constructed around roads and on private land.
Ms Martin said she hoped property owners would allow access to any areas requiring work.
"Now it's crunch time, now they have to act on it."
Renmark Irrigation Trust general manager Rosalie Auricht said the geography of the region meant it was less vulnerable to the risks caused by more water in the system.
"In the Riverland we're happy to see our floodplains get some water ... the upstream people have smaller river systems and smaller floodplain areas," she said.
The Department for Environment and Water's Chrissie Bloss said engineers assessed two levee banks of concern today, located in Renmark at Hale Street and behind the hospital.
She said engineers concluded these two levee banks were not fit for purpose.
"We'd be quite concerned that they could fail if they were called into action," Ms Bloss said.
"It's certainly achievable to have earth works happening within weeks."
Ms Bloss said a timeline was still to be decided.
