Arabic version: الإقليم الشمالي يخصص 13.3 مليون دولار لحاجز فيضانات كاثرين ساوث

According to ABC News, the Northern Territory government has earmarked $13.3 million from its Flood Recovery Fund to build a 3-kilometre flood levee in Katherine South, months after the town’s worst flooding in almost three decades.

The Katherine River reached its highest flood peak since 1998 in March. The NT government said the proposed levee would protect an additional 210 homes and businesses. Combined with Katherine’s northern levee, it is intended to provide greater protection and mitigate impacts from floods up to a one-in-20-year event.

The project is expected to run from the western side of the Katherine Country Club on Pearce Street to the southern tip of Katherine South on the Victoria Highway. Plans include 1.6-metre-high dirt embankments, a 1.5-metre-high levee wall, and road-raising works on Murphy Street, Murray Street and Bicentennial Road. A construction start date and delivery timeframe have not been confirmed.

Katherine Town Council Mayor Joanna Holden welcomed the funding, noting the federal government had previously committed $9.1 million. She said the added NT contribution could deliver a better outcome, while raising concerns about possible effects on the Katherine showgrounds and local infrastructure. The council has not been engaged in much of the planning so far, she said.

Local volunteer Trent de With said stagnant water remained in some Katherine South streets for a lengthy period after the March floods, including water that back-fed from creeks. He said the existing northern levee diverts water around town toward the southern side, and called for stormwater drains, particularly near Tindal Street, to be investigated as part of efforts to reduce future inundation.