Katherine promised new $13.3m levee after town's worst flood in 28 years

Months on from the worst flooding Katherine has seen in almost three decades, the regional Northern Territory town has been promised a new multi-million-dollar levee.

The Katherine River recorded its highest flood peak since 1998 in March this year, with authorities at the time describing the Top End's extreme weather as "back-to-back, compounding, concurrent, consecutive events within a four-month period", including two tropical cyclones in a single wet season.

In a statement released today, the NT government announced $13.3 million had been earmarked for the construction of a 3-kilometre long flood levee in Katherine South.

With funds drawn from the NT's $100m Flood Recovery Fund, established during the March floods, a spokesperson for the Country Liberal Party (CLP) government said the new levee would help protect "an additional 210 homes and businesses" in Katherine South.

"Once complete, the combined function of the Katherine north and south levees will provide greater flood protection for Katherine residents, mitigating flood impacts up to a one in 20-year flood event," they said.

Trent de With, a local volunteer who has supported Katherine's flood recovery efforts, said the levee would be "very advantageous to the people who live on that side of town".

Mr de With said after the March floods, stagnant water sat in some Katherine South streets "for the longest period out of anywhere".

"And they weren't directly in the line of fire, it was just back-feeding from the other creeks,"

he said.

The government says the Katherine South levee will extend "from the western side of the Katherine Country Club in Pearce Street, to the southern tip of Katherine South on the Victoria Highway".

The levee is expected to feature new 1.6-metre high dirt embankments and a 1.5-metre tall levee wall, plus road raising works on Murphy Street, Murray Street and Bicentennial Road.

It is not yet clear how long the southern levee will take to deliver, or when construction will begin.

NT funds bolster federal commitment

Katherine Town Council Mayor Joanna Holden said locals were feeling positive about today's announcement.

Cr Holden said the federal government had previously promised $9.1m, but the extra NT government funding could help deliver "a better outcome" for Katherine than initially expected.

"So it's not a new project, but it's fantastic that the NT government are now contributing out of that $100 million [fund],"

she said.

The mayor said while "the council at this stage hasn't been engaged in a great deal of the planning", she wanted to ensure the project did not come at a cost to ratepayers or local infrastructure.

Cr Holden said the new levee could potentially divert more water to the Katherine showgrounds, where there were buildings and "a lot of electrical outlets", so the council was keen to weigh in on the plan.

"This year, the water remained there for a significant period of time after the flooding and that obviously in itself — having water sitting there — creates more issues," she said.

"We had at least one saltwater crocodile on the showgrounds this year, so we're probably wanting to know if that levee bank's going to keep them back where they belong as well."

River, drains front of mind

Mr de With said he hoped the new infrastructure would push future floodwater further back from residential streets.

He said the existing northern flood levee diverted water around the town and "allows it to pretty much flow straight into the southern side" of Katherine.

"All it does is move the problem from one place to another, at the moment," he said.

In welcoming the new levee, Mr de With explained local stormwater drains — particularly around Tindal Street — would need to also be investigated as they often fill with floodwater, which inundates lower-lying roads along the river.

"Even the one in the main street, there's a drain directly connected to the river,"

he said.

"That was one of the reasons that the main street started to flood early on, was because of the back-feeding [and] coming back from the river."