LAKE Albert is full for the first time in three years, Burrinjuck and Blowering dams continue to rise and flash flooding has hit all pockets of the state – but our region’s farmers are still desperate for water.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
While Wagga residents rejoice Lake Albert has been dealt four inches of rain in the last six weeks, neighbouring western Riverina irrigators are demanding the state government increase “dismal” water allocations as dams inch closer to capacity during what some have described as the wettest winter in decades.
Griffith mayor John Dal Broi is “extremely disappointed” water allocations are fixed at 17 per cent, despite Burrinjuck Dam sitting at 65 per cent capacity and Blowering Dam at 44 per cent capacity.
Cr Dal Broi said the generous 150mm of winter rain has created one of the wettest seasons yet and believed the Department of Primary Industries’ (DPI) 17 per cent allocation should sit around 40 per cent, which stifled irrigators’ capacity to grow.
“It’s frustrating, absolutely frustrating,” Cr Dal Broi said.
Widgelli irrigator Chris Morshead appealed to the DPI to improve transparency on the process of determining allocations, maintaining Burrinjuck’s rapid increase hasn't been reflected in previous announcements.
Mr Morshead said it was the “wettest winter since 1989” but allocations at the same time last year were much higher at 24 per cent. “The most grating thing is there’s big volumes of water being released, 30 to 50 per cent, of inflows during June July and August, while the river remains on off allocation, we need to understand these releases",” he said.
DPI determines water allocations at the start of each year by calculating the minimum volume of water that will be available for consumptive use. While allocations increase throughout the year, full dams don’t guarantee an increase because general security allocation depends on above minimum inflows that can be stored.
A DPI spokesman said an allocation increase on September 1 depended on the assessment of in-flows from the recent rain event.
The winter downpour has delivered reprieve to Lake Albert campaigners, happy the lake has reached its 3500 megalitre-capacity for the first time in three years. Boat Club commodore Mick Henderson said the downpour has guaranteed all ski events next year in the wake of multiple competitions cancelled due to low water levels.
