WaterNSW revised its dam strategy last Friday in key flood zones in light of advice from the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) forecasting the minor rain event which occurred on Sunday night and Monday morning.
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Wyangala (98.8%), Burrinjuck (93%) and Burrendong (119.2%) have created capacity to again capture upstream inflows, and based on BoM forecasts, WaterNSW has reduced releases.
The exception is Blowering Dam (99.8%) on the Tumut River, where higher releases will be maintained, in consultation with NSW State Emergency Service (SES), to continue building capacity in the dam storage to accommodate future inflows.
Chief Executive Officer, David Harris said a more favourable short term weather outlook and the looming irrigation season, meant WaterNSW will maintain storage levels with capacity for flood mitigation, while also considering water security for primary producers, and communities downstream.
"With the Bureau advising us that the immediate outlook will be somewhat drier, our dam operators in the Lachlan, Macquarie and Murrumbidgee valleys are maintaining the ability to capture upstream run-off, while also being conscious of the need to ensure water security for those regions," he said.
"Our staff have worked hard across an extraordinary winter and spring to mitigate flood impacts by ensuring these storages had as much capacity as possible to capture repeated upstream flood surges.
"Dam releases have been conducted in consultation with downstream stakeholders, including landholders and local government, as well as the SES, and we appreciate those people giving up their time to provide a crucial local perspective.
"With clearer skies we will consider cutting back releases and monitoring the situation carefully to ensure once demand increases, those storages are as full as safely possible."
As of 10.30am Monday Wyangala Dam was releasing 3,300 megalitres a day.
In the 24 hours up until 10.30am inflows were 2774 meaglitres.
The dam is currently holding 1,201,068 megalitres.