THE home ground for Jervois’ first A grade cricket side for five seasons could be in jeopardy if the club cannot get water onto the oval this summer.
As the four-time winning football A grade premiership team Jervois counts its losses from the weekend’s match, the cricket club is gearing up to enter an A grade side in the Murray Towns Cricket Association for the coming summer.
However, the oval may not be fit for sport if the Jervois Combined Sports Club cannot find funding to extend a pipeline to irrigate the ground.
The Murray Bridge council has offered a $10,000 lifeline to the club towards the pipeline.
This has still left the club $15,000 short of the total funding needed to extend the pipeline by 1.2 kilometres.
The $45,000 pipeline extension will irrigate the Jervois oval, which has been relying on rainfall since an old pipeline was deemed useless because of low water levels and a now non-existent water channel.
It seems the impact of The Lower Murray Swamps Rehabilitation Project of the dairy swamps in recent years has not only seen people forced to walk away from their livelihoods but has also had an effect on the sports club.
Rehabilitation resulted in the removal of a salt channel that the club was pumping water from, and the existing pipe falls 1.2 kilometres short of the receding river.
The club asked for a $10,000 grant and a $15,000 no-interest loan from the council at its meeting on August 25.
The council decided to provide the grant but explained in its report that policy did not allow it to provide interest-free loans.
Jervois Football Club vice president Shawn Hicks said the club would contribute $20,000 and was now considering other forms of funding to make up the extra $15,000 needed.
“A discussion from a grant may take until next year and that is not an option for us as we need the pipe to go in no later than November,” Mr Hicks said.
“If we are unable to source water, the oval would be deemed unsafe to play on, and insurance will not cover us.”
Mr Hicks said the oval was an important part of the Jervois community.
“The community has lost too much already due to social and environmental impacts over the years, losing its sporting club would have a great impact on the people,” he said.
Mr Hicks said he would now consider approaching the community for donations.
Peter Aunger has been a member of the football club for about 25 years, and his three sons and daughter all play either football or netball with the side.
“It would be quite devastating (if the club closed) because it has been a part of our lives,” he said.
The family travels to Jervois from their home in Murray Bridge to participate in the club, where Mr Aunger’s parents were members before him.
Mr Aunger said Murray Bridge was becoming more metropolitan, but the Jervois Combined Sports Club provided the chance for his family to be involved in country sport.
“It’s a very special club,” he said.