Warren’s lacklustre levee will soon stand tall, with over $5 million being invested in the town’s levee bank to better withstand future flood events. 

During the flood events of late 2021, Warren’s Macquarie River was inundated with flows of enough water for some locals to find it more convenient to boat to work than drive.

To come out unscathed, however, the local council called out to the community for the loan tractors, ATV’s and side by side vehicles, all involved in emergency measures to pump out any excesses of water.



The state of the levees were simply not enough to do the job alone.

Six months later, Warren Town has received funding to repair the levee, as announced by Member for Parkes Mark Coulton this month. 

“The condition of the town levee has significantly deteriorated over recent years, so much so that Council had to take emergency mitigation measures to minimise the impact of flooding late last year,” Mr Coulton said. 

“The rehabilitation of the levee has been a priority of Council’s for a number of years,” he said. 

A Technical Advisory Panel comprised of experts from CSIRO, the Bureau of Meteorology and the Australian Climate Service conducted a technical review of applications against the criteria of the relative flood risk and flood mitigation impact of the project, and the impact of the project on reducing exposure to flood risks that influence insurability of existing flood mitigation infrastructure. 

Following this review, the Program Review Panel comprised of representatives from the Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications, the Bureau of Meteorology, and the National Recovery and Resilience Agency (Chair) assessed, rated and ranked programs against the Program Guidelines and Assessment Criteria. 

Eligible projects were then endorsed by the Coordinator-General of the National Recovery and Resilience Agency. 

Warren Shire Council Mayor Milton Quigley was pleased at the more permanent tool against flood emergencies.

“(This) will ensure that the integrity of the levee is reinstated to its original design level and that our community is now again protected in the event of serious flooding,” Cr Quigley said.

The funding is a part of the Governments, $4 billion Emergency Response Fund.