An emergency area declaration placed on the stretch of river between Hume Dam and Perricoota Station, which closed the river to all but emergency use during the floods, was lifted Friday.
And while it signals the start of a recovery process, authorities still warn that it will take some time for the floods to fully recede.
Tocumwal Chamber of Commerce and Tourism president Sergio Redegalli said despite lower river levels and reduced risk as floodwaters move downstream, Tocumwal would not see any immediate benefit of this change in circumstances due to river and camping area access issues.
Inundation leaves many areas in accessible.
It also means Tocumwal’s caravan and motor home dump point remains underwater.
“Chamber has been lobbying for a second dump point away from the foreshore for ages,” Mr Redegalli said.
“Now the foreshore’s been under water for weeks, campers need to go to Finley or Barooga for that service.
“I don’t know where boaters would be able to get in the water and camping is still a disaster.
“We’ve also asked why the pony club or the centre of the racecourse can’t be used to keep campers in the area.
“If you ask the caravan park owners and hotel operators they’ll say they’re still doing well, but they’re mainly full of people who can’t access their homes and not tourists.”
Berrigan Shire Council chief executive officer Karina Ewer said the chamber’s request for a dump point opposite its visitor centre was still being assessed when the floods arrived.
And while saying council has not received any formal requests from the pony club or racing club to consider camping provisions on their grounds, she said this process would not be an immediate fix.
“Noone has approached council to ask for an alternate site, and they are not that simple to open,” she said.
“There are a number of agencies who need to give permission, and if they are on Crown Land under council’s care and control, they need to both meet the underlying zoning requirements of the parcel and align with the relevant plans of management.”
Ms Ewer said according to the advice being received by Berrigan Shire, it is unlikely local boat ramps and river adjacent camping spots would be open in time for Christmas.
Ms Ewer said the water will not completely subside “until late January early February, as per advice from relevant agencies”.
And even if the water subsides, safety assessments of camping areas would need to be undertaken before they are re-opened.
“New South Wales and Vic Parks have currently indicated they will not allow camping on their beaches until at least March, and that will depend on how quickly arborists can do all the assessments,” Ms Ewer said.
Monitoring of the river conditions and flood damage assessments will continue.
Mr Redegalli said it could be a long time before Tocumwal recovered financially from the floods.
“We’re having a tough time, because Tocumwal depends heavily on tourism - more so than most of the other towns around us, and I don’t see that changing quickly.”
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