Where is all the water coming from?
Monica, do you copy?
Monica?
Yeah, Ruby, what’s up?
There is water flooding in. I don’t know where the **** it’s coming from.
Okay, on my way.

What the **** is going on?
Check this out.
Holy ****. I don’t know where this water is coming from, but we’re going to lose this culvert.

A flash flood has burst the banks of the creek that runs through the claim, threatening to wash out Monica’s operation.

This grad is our way to plant, to our cut, to everything being washed out like this.
This **** us right up. There’s water everywhere.

Our culvert’s trying to escape.
Better put some more material on there.
I’ll get the loader from the plant and I’ll get this fixed quick so we’re not down for too long.

A creek runs through neighboring mines onto the Beets’ Indian River claim.
A culvert channels it under the only access road connecting Tony’s camp to his cuts.
But a flash flood from upstream is surging down the creek, overwhelming the culvert and washing away part of the road.

To save it, Monica will pile dirt onto the culvert to secure it in place before rebuilding the vital access road.

The water’s come up.
I don’t know where the **** it’s coming from.
It’s going to **** me up ’cause this is our only access road.
The plant’s that way, the cuts are that way, all my people are that way—so I need to get this water to come down now.

I had the neighbor with the settling pump. The dam broke.
So we kinda… nice to see where all that water went.

Tony is heading to Indian River to check out the state of his claim.
It’s the only place we’re losing right now.
So it’d be kind of a… we have to shut that down.
That’ll be nice, just to keep everything as is.

Well, that’s some mess.
This is some disaster.

Hey Monica, do you copy?
Monica, do you copy?

What are you doing here?
I just heard there was a water thing happening down there, so just came to check it out.
Well, as soon as I get this culvert covered, I’ll come talk to you.

What the ****—every time something breaks, Tony shows up.
God knows, floor it.
I swear, upstream something broke.
The neighbors must have been storing it, and it must have got off on it.

Somebody give me a rock truck over here, please, at the culvert!
Well, it’s not pretty, but hopefully it holds.
The water’s come down quite a bit.

I heard your neighbors had a dam break.
I was wondering where all the water came from.
Had to come from the settling pump.
They blew the culvert out.

Anyway, it’d be nice to fire up the plant soon as you’re done.
Be all good. Y’Bingo, you’re part of the play.

With it under control now, at least you can fire the plant back up.
Back in business.
Kind of a **** to shut down for somebody else’s mess.

Tony has a hard time giving up control.
He’s a micromanager.
He’s always been that way.
He’ll always be that way.

I’m building up the last bit of the road so that hopefully this doesn’t happen again.
Before the Beets crew can get back to slinging at Indian River, they must finish repairs on their flooded access road.

It’s costing us huge downtime.
We had to shut down the plant so that we could fix the road.
Without that road, we don’t have any access to the plant.
So we have to fix it.

[Music]

Thanks, Ruby.
Glad we could fix this pretty quick.
Time to get this loader back so we can get going.

Monica doing good.
She got it all fixed up.
I’m sick of that.

Tony believes an unknown miner’s settling pond burst its dam, causing a flash flood onto his property.
To avoid further flooding, Tony wants the creek to be diverted before it enters his claim.
But under his restricted water license, he can’t move creeks—
So he needs to call in a favor from his next-door neighbor, whose license does allow it.

Parker has a stretch beside us down there and Canon Stewart’s ground.
We’re going to go see what we can do.

Five years ago, Parker asked Tony for permission to draw water from his land.

“So I’m not going to get your permission to pull water from your property?”
“I cannot make an agreement without the government okaying it.”
“What you’re telling me right now is to end my mining season.”
“Well, you know what—sucks to be you.”

Along the side of the property, it discharges a little further down—
Away from our side.
Get it?
I ain’t there.
Then it runs out, and then we’re in business.

“You can’t move creeks.”
“I can’t have it now there.”
“Well, that’s where it’s been flowing for a decade.”
“I know, but it didn’t bother me until now.”
“You just don’t want it to be your problem.”
“What the ****, put it over there. Figure out something, let me know. I got to go, there’s too much going on around here.”
“Okay, yeah, you guys go do your ****.”

[Music]

It’s just a friendly, neighborly thing.
Tony has a creek right here that flows onto his side,
So he wants me to move it over here.
But I am not associated with any of this.

And he wants me to eat all the water—
And I’m not…
I’m not thirsty this time.

Sucks to him.

I’m Parker Schnabel, and you’re watching Discovery Australia.
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