Small Australian Town Evacuated Following Potential Dam Failure

Emergency workers inspect the Dam that has threatened to burst in Echunga, South Australia, on Sept. 28, 2022. (AAP Image/Matt Turner)

A small town in South Australia has been issued an emergency warning after the State Emergency Services (SES) was notified that the wall of a private dam was displaying signs of potential failure.

SES has told around 65 residents in Echunga to prepare for potential flooding and relocate to a safer place or Echunga Football Club.

“The private dam is estimated to contain between nine to ten megalitres of water and could impact the township of Echunga if the rear wall fails,” the South Australian SES said in a media release.

SES Chief of Staff Graeme Wynwood said a spillway had been created to drain the dam water in a controlled manner.

“We now have the capacity to extract approximately 12,000 litres (3,170 gallons) of water per minute using a number of pumps, and we using the stormwater drains of the Echunga township to disperse the excess water,” he said.

Craig Bressington, the SES district officer, said the pumps that had drained the dam overnight had reduced the water level by around half a metre (1.6 feet).

He said lowering the water by around 1.5 metres would put the dam within a safe area, which could take another 24 hours.

SES were still trying to work out how to get bigger pumps to speed up the process. However, its location is making it difficult.

“It’s down in a valley, and there’s no roads down to it, so we’re speaking to the council at the moment to see how we can get it down there,” he said.

David O’Shannessy, SES state duty office, told ABC Radio Adelaide that a combination of issues caused by recent wet weather had led to the wall failure.

“A lot of the water that would normally be soaked up by the ground is just now going to run off, so the dams are very full up there,” he said.

“So that combined with quite wet ground, it appears just in this case that this private dam’s had a shift, and that’s started a couple of shifts.

“I think it’s just a really unfortunate series of events as an isolated event, but I think we have had enough rainfall over the winter to see this happen.”

Authorities have blocked roads leading into the town, which is located around 30 kilometres (18.6 miles) southeast of Adelaide’s central business district.