Flooding nightmare after Black Saturday bushfire fight

Milan and Sonia Stempihar fought a raging fire on Black Saturday 2009 and saved their Labertouche property.  Now they face another fight - extreme flooding.

They have been living on their 20-acre property in Alcorn Rd for 23 years and experienced some minor flooding but in recent years flooding is frequent and extreme.

Milan believes it is the result of poor road maintenance by Baw Baw Shire, silting issues following the fires and climate change.

When they moved to Labertouche Milan and Sonia ran beef on their farmlet but with the advancing years they have found sheep, alpacas and goats easier to handle.

Their driveway meanders over the Robertson Creek.  They have a small dam in the eastern corner of their property fed by the creek which then flows through culverts under their driveway heading west.

Several years after the devastating Black Saturday fires Milan noticed heavy silting which he attributes to a loss of vegetation where the creek rises.

His land slopes towards the unsealed road and when the creek overflows the road drains become blocked.

Milan has pointed this out to the shire for many years and nothing has been done.

He said he had received many excuses ranging from dismissing his concerns outright to an officer stating that there was a lack of money to properly fix it.

“In the last three to four years this has become a nightmare.  And with more severe storms is happening constantly,” he said.

Sonia is not confident driving through flood water and without Milan to drive her she would be trapped on the property.

Milan said there had been four big floods in 12 months.  The high water levels and strong current bring rubbish and even animal carcasses.

Milan has discussed the issue with the shire and Melbourne Water, which he says just blame each other.

“I’ve told Melbourne Water I won’t be paying any more water rates until it is sorted out.  This has been going on for too long and I feel like I am getting nowhere.

Milan also discussed the issue with west ward councillor Keith Cook.  “He visited here on September 11 and I’ve never heard anything back.  I sent him photos of the flooding, a total of 23 pictures, but nothing has happened.

Cr Cook said he sent the photos on to the shire through the snap, send solve app.

Milan has told the shire the culverts they used are too small for the water levels and the road drains are not kept clean.

“I say to them to do it once and do it right,” he said.

Milan said he also told Melbourne Water he was happy to clean the dam but wanted the silting issue upstream sorted beforehand.

Sonia summed up their situation simply – “it’s like we don’t exist here.”

Both Sonia and Milan also wonder if they are being ignored because of their European background.  “Maybe they are ignoring us because we don’t have an English sounding name,” Milan suggested.

“I have gone through life with the attitude that if there is something wrong you fix it,” Milan said.

Baw Baw Shire community infrastructure director Cohen Van der Velde said there had been discussions with the Stempihars and engineers had been on site to investigate the flooding causes.

He said the issues raised by the owners were valid, and significant works will be needed to address them.

“The flooding cause is complex and not only a localised drainage issue. However, there may be some amelioration works that council can undertake to improve the situation and these are being investigated,” he said.

“It appears that overall, the transportation of sediments from the Labertouche hills into the property’s dam and drains is having an exacerbating effect that is putting severe pressure on drainage systems.

“With these underlying issues relating to water catchment management in the area, Melbourne Water has been engaged to investigate possible solutions, given they are the responsible authority for catchment management in the area. They have also been onsite to examine the issue.

He said council was liaising with Melbourne Water regarding their plan to address the overall causes of the flooding in the area.

“In the meantime, council will continue to investigate works that can be undertaken now to improve the situation until the underlying works can be addressed,” he said.