A hinterland resident claims a flood gauge on a creek where a woman drowned 15 years ago has not been working for more than two years.
Lachlan Davis has counted 29 months since there has been any information from the Kin Kin flood gauge, on Pomona Kin Kin Road.
Mr Davis said the Wahpunga Lane flood gauge north of the town had also stopped working in recent months.
The Kin Kin gauge monitors flood heights at Payne Bridge on the Kin Kin Creek western branch, where Magarida Jackson, 78, was swept to her death in a 2009 flood.
She had reportedly been on her way home from visiting her ex-husband in hospital when she was caught out by flooding.
Her car was found submerged 500m away the next day and her body was found the day after 1.5km from the road.
Mr Davis checks the gauge information on the Bureau of Meteorology site during rain to ensure he can get from home to work and vice versa.
“We rely on them to see what the creeks are doing. They do come up and go down quite quickly. There’s so many small creeks and bridges,” he said.
“In February 2022 we had four floods, and in the last of those floods the Kin Kin gauge went down and hasn’t worked since.”
Mr Davis said he reported the broken Kin Kin gauge to Noosa Council five months ago, and the Wahpunga Lane gauge had stopped working in the meantime.
A check on the Bureau of Meteorology’s website shows a streak of zeroes for the Wahpunga Lane height for the past seven days, when gauges on other waterways in the system have all shown slight variation.
There is no mention of the Kin Kin Creek, also known as Payne Creek, gauge at Kin Kin.
Following a call from Mr Davis, emails to all councillors and an inquiry from Sunshine Coast News, Noosa Council assured it was taking immediate action to ensure two faulty flood gauges at Kin Kin and Wahpunga Lane were fully operational as soon as possible and before storm season.
Noosa Council’s civil and asset operations manager Bryan O’Connor said the council was responsible for the operation and maintenance of flood gauges across the shire.
“These assets are inspected biannually and also within seven days of a forecast significant flood event,” Mr O’Connor said.
“We’re currently taking steps to fix faulty flood gauges on Kin Kin Road and Wahpunga Lane and ensure they remain operational.
“Council is also working diligently on a contemporary program of proactive flood gauge management across the shire including real-time monitoring and dashboard display of flood levels, which will both improve responsiveness of maintenance and convenience for the public.”
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