The South Australian State Emergency Service (SASES) advises the dam at Echunga no longer poses a potential flood risk to the local community.

Engineers completed a comprehensive inspection of the site this morning and declared the site safe.

As the Control Agency of the incident SASES would like to thank the local community, volunteers and supporting agencies for their help during the event.

Craig Brassington, SASES Incident Controller says more than 100 SASES volunteers were involved during the management of the incident and remediation of the dam.

“The SASES acted swiftly and efficiently when notified of the potential collapse of an earthen wall of the private dam on Tuesday evening,’’ he says.

“Our priority is always the safety of local communities and to minimise potential impacts on life and property.’’

SASES, collaborating with partner agencies, identified 80 houses in Echunga which could have been impacted if there had been a rapid collapse of the dam. It is estimated the dam contained between 10 to 14 megalitres of water, roughly equivalent to five Olympic size swimming pools.

Residents were advised of the potential risk during a door knock of the area, resulting in about 40 people leaving their homes.

“In situations like this we are required to plan for a worst-case scenario,’’ Mr Brassington says.

“As a result, we are responsible for the coordination of a significant number of people and resources across a wide range of organisations.

“The planning and execution of the response went smoothly and we were able to achieve a very satisfactory outcome.’’

The SASES response included:

• PUMPING approximately 10 megalitres of water from the dam.
• CREATION of a spillway.
• COORDINATION of a relief centre at Echunga Recreational Ground.
• ALERTING the local community to the potential flood risk.
• ACTIVATING and staffing an information hotline.
• TRANSPORTING 20 tonnes of sand to Echunga for filling of sandbags.

With approximately 30,000 private dams across South Australia the SASES reminds people to conduct regular inspections and maintenance of their dams to ensure their structural integrity.

For fact sheets, guidelines and other tools relating to private dam maintenance visit ses.sa.gov.au/flood/during-a-flood/dams