Founder and chief executive officer Grant Wilckens described the devastation left after water reached parts of the company’s Lake Bonney holiday park in Barmera along with parks in Renmark and Loxton owned by franchisees as “a war zone”.

Wilckens said the Lake Bonney site – the first SA purchase by the Adelaide-based G’Day Group – had witnessed extremes of climate.

“I bought Lake Bonney in 2006 and then the lake dried up during the drought, and here I am looking at flooding right across the network – back then I wondered if we would ever see water back in the lake,” Wilckens said.

“I’ve been up in the Riverland as much as I can to support the network (during recent flooding), I’ve really seen the devastation, it’s like a war zone.

“As the water goes down, there are trees that have been under water for six to eight weeks that have died… everything is grey and muddy, it looks like a bushfire has been through.”

Wilckens said the company, listed at number 12 in Indaily’s South Australian Business Index last year with $296 million revenue, owns about 300 properties across Australia under the G’Day Group, including more than 60 owned and managed Discovery-badged holiday parks. The group employs more than 1000 staff in South Australia, including about 350 people at its Adelaide headquarters.

The group is Australia’s largest park owner operator with eight sites based along the river including Euchuca, Nagambie Lakes and Mildura in Victoria and Moama in New South Wales.

While damage repairs from the highest river flows in nearly 50 years will be expensive, Wilckens said there also is lost revenue from parks having to close as water inundated sites and bookings were cancelled.

Treasurer Stephen Mullighan on Wednesday estimated that the total cost of flood remediation in South Australia was likely to top $200 million, but it will take weeks to asses the full extent of damage to roads, buildings and infrastructure.

As waters rose at Lake Bonney late last year, 20 deluxe cabins at the holiday park were moved to higher ground and a levee was built  before management discovered the lake would be closed off to the River Murray.

Discovery Parks moved 20 cabins from the edges of Lake Bonney to this paddock as River Murray waters rose. Photo: supplied

Wilckens said the lake was reopened to River Murray flow this week after the flood peak receded with plans for the park itself to be open for business later this month, flushes of growth and increasing numbers of birds, yabbies and fish a drawcard.

But 220 tourist sites and 80 cabins have been closed during the park’s busiest holiday period, apart from some cabins used by contractors and workers helping flood efforts.

Wilckens said it was ‘gut-wrenching’ to see the holiday shack his family has owned at Teal Flat near Mannum for more than 30 years have its ground floor walls washed away, despite the upstairs rooms staying dry.

“We worked really hard to try and protect the property, we had sandbags and plastic up and thought we had protected it, the reality was the water was higher than expected,” he said.

“Last weekend, seeing the devastation, it’s pretty sad, it’s gut-wrenching actually. The walls just disintegrated, the gyprock just disappeared, my kids’ rooms are now just one big open room, there’s a river now going through my house.”

Wilckens, who is a SA Tourism Commission board member, wants governments to give careful thought to national funding decisions to repair and rebuild River Murray communities.

He believes there is a new opportunity to market the River Murray as a national icon similar to the River Nile or the Mekong: a tourist drawcard with stunning orange cliffs and vast lagoons now teeming with birdlife, yabbies and fish.

Governments can capitalise on growing demand for tourism experiences along the river in South Australia stretching from the Victorian border upstream from Renmark in the Riverland to the Coorong near the Murray Mouth, Wilckens said.

“I think we have a lot of locals that go to the river with shacks and houseboats but there’s a real opportunity to get not just accommodation but premium offerings, wineries, food, it’s an amazing part of the world and we need to make sure funding is careful and considered,” Wilckens said.

“Tourism Australia needs to re-market the river as an iconic Australian river across Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia.”

State Emergency Services said on Friday morning that the risk of flooding at the Renmark Riverbend Caravan Park, part of the Edwards Group of holiday parks, has reduced after it was closed in December as River Murray flows rose.

“Flood levels are dropping, but remain higher than normal. This area has now been declared All Clear,” the advice said.

Meanwhile, SA Power Networks is hosting a series of community information hubs between 10am and 3pm where locals can learn about when electricity supplies will be restored along the River Murray.

River Murray Community Information Hubs

Tuesday, February 7: Morgan Activity Centre, at 7 Third Street.

Wednesday, February 8: Mannum Leisure Centre, 51 Adelaide Road.

Thursday, February 9: Murray Bridge, Diamond Park, West Terrace.