Too much water

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A series of wet years in the 1950s culminated with a major flood in 1956. This, combined with record high local rainfall, left much of the landscape waterlogged for months at a time. Waterlogging was particularly severe in the Berriquin Irrigation District.

In other parts of the region the rain and flooding resulted in rising water tables and some soil salinisation. These problems largely disappeared over the next few years but waterlogging continued to be a problem in Berriquin.

The Murray Irrigation Districts had been developed with no drainage at all, although the region is among some of the flattest land in the world. The effects of the flood and high rainfall indicated that drainage would be an ongoing issue.

Following the 1956 flood the WC&IC developed a plan for surface drainage for most of the Berriquin district. However it was rejected by landholders, largely on the basis of cost.

Despite this, the WC&IC initiated the Box Creek stormwater escape system, providing the region’s first formal drainage network. Several other government and private stormwater systems were built during the following decades.

In 1974 another major flood swept across the landscape and Berriquin landholders began to see rising water tables, in addition to surface waterlogging.

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