River Murray Weekly Report

For the week ending Wednesday, 27th May 2015

Trim Ref: D15/40138

Rainfall and Inflows

Rain fell over parts of the northern Murray-Darling Basin at the beginning of this week before a spell of mostly fine and dry weather began under the influence of a large high pressure system. The heaviest rain fell in a band through northern NSW. Rain was also recorded in southern Queensland and in southern parts of the Basin in Victoria and South Australia (Map 1).

The highest weekly rain totals were in northern NSW and included 46 mm at Woolbrook, 36 mm at Werris Creek and 35 mm at Mullaley. Totals elsewhere included 22 mm on the Darling River at Wilcannia and 20 mm at Milang in South Australia.

Map 1 - Murray Darling Basin rainfall week ending 27th May 2015 (Source: Bureau of Meteorology)

With the relatively dry conditions in the south-eastern Basin, flows along the upper Murray tributaries receded throughout the week. At Biggara, the flow on the Murray receded from 1,500 to 600 ML/day. On the Mitta Mitta River, the flow at Hinnomunjie Bridge decreased from 2,200 to 850 ML/day. On the Ovens River, the flow at Rocky Point receded from 1,500 to 800 ML/day.

River Operations

MDBA storage has increased by 86 GL, with the active storage currently 3,728 GL or 44%capacity.

At Dartmouth Reservoir, the storage volume reduced by 13 GL to 2,888 GL (75% capacity). The flow at Colemans was decreased to 1,000 ML/day over the weekend but is now being increased and expected to reach 6,000 ML/day by 31 May. These releases are being undertaken as bulk transfers to Hume Reservoir in preparation for next season. See the attached flow advice for more details.

Hume Reservoir’s storage volume increased by 63 GL this week to 724 GL (24% capacity). The current release from Hume remains at the minimum of 600 ML/day.

At Yarrawonga Weir, the pool level continues to be reduced and is currently 122.32 m AHD, which is 2.38 m below the normal operating level. The pool level will continue to fall until a target of around 121.2 m AHD is reached in early June. The downstream release at Yarrawonga Weir has been decreased this week and is currently 7,300 ML/day. Further reductions will be made in the coming days.

On the Edward River System, inflows via the Edward River and Gulpa Creek offtakes were relatively high at the beginning of the week, but have now started to decrease. The current total inflow is about 1,900 ML/day and is expected to continue decreasing slowly during the coming week as releases upstream from Yarrawonga Weir recede further.

On the Goulburn River, the flow at McCoys Bridge has been steady at around 1,000 ML/day. This flow is expected to continue until mid-June, after which higher flows are possible. More information will be provided in future Weekly Reports.

At Torrumbarry Weir, the flow peaked on 26 May at 8,900 ML/day. Flows have now started to recede and will continue to fall away over the coming week. Downstream at Swan Hill, the flow has reached 8,700 ML/day and is close to a peak.

At Euston Weir, a pool level around 20 cm below FSL has been targeted over recent weeks. However, the pool is now being re-filled and is expected to have returned to the Full Supply Level (47.60 m AHD) in the coming days. The flow downstream of Euston has increased this week and is expected to exceed 10,000 ML/day in the next day or two before peaking in around a week’s time.

The drawdown of the weir pool at Mildura is continuing and the removal of the weir structure is now almost complete. The pool level is now more than 2 metres below FSL (Figure 1) and will continue decreasing to a level around 3.6 metres below FSL (depending on the river flow rate) in the coming days. The Mildura Weir works are planned to continue for up to 4 months, during which time Lock 11 will remain closed. More information is available from the Goulburn-Murray Water website. Flow rates downstream of Mildura Weir have varied between 9,000 and 12,500 ML/day over the last week in response to the drawdown, but will become more consistent once the structure is fully removed.

The volume stored in the Menindee Lakes increased by another 5 GL due to the continued arrival of a small pulse of inflows originating from upstream tributaries in early April. The Menindee Lakes currently store 72 GL (4% capacity) and there remains no release from Weir 32.

The flow at Wentworth increased to 12,500 ML/day this week and is expected to remain in excess of 10,000 ML/day into early June.

The storage in Lake Victoria increased by 31 GL to 310 GL (46% capacity). The storage level will exceed 350 GL (24.5 m AHD) in the coming days. The flow to South Australia averaged 3,900 ML/day during the last week and will remain close to this rate for the remainder of May. Slightly lower flow rates are expected for the beginning of June.

At the Lower Lakes, the 5 day average water level in Lake Alexandrina increased to 0.64 m AHD. Release through the barrages re-started on 24 May following several days of closure to manage reverse flows of sea water caused by rough weather and high tides. Conditions forecast for the coming days may result in further barrage closures in the coming week.

Figure 1 - Mildura Weir being removed in preparation for maintenance works.
Photo courtesy Steven Bloomfield via @Piranhasekb on twitter.

For media inquiries contact the Media Officer on 02 6279 0141

DAVID DREVERMAN

Executive Director, River Management

Water in Storage Week ending Wednesday 27 May 2015

MDBA Storages / Full Supply Level / Full Supply Volume / Current Storage Level / Current / Storage / Dead Storage / Active Storage / Change in Total Storage for the Week
(m AHD) / (GL) / (m AHD) / (GL) / % / (GL) / (GL) / (GL)
Dartmouth Reservoir / 486.00 / 3 856 / 469.93 / 2 888 / 75% / 71 / 2 817 / -13
Hume Reservoir / 192.00 / 3 005 / 176.09 / 724 / 24% / 23 / 701 / +63
Lake Victoria / 27.00 / 677 / 23.66 / 310 / 46% / 100 / 210 / +31
Menindee Lakes / 1 731* / 72 / 4% / (- -) # / 0 / +5
Total / 9 269 / 3 994 / 43% / - - / 3 728 / +86
Total Active MDBA Storage / 44% ^
Major State Storages
Burrinjuck Reservoir / 1 026 / 429 / 42% / 3 / 426 / +5
Blowering Reservoir / 1 631 / 425 / 26% / 24 / 401 / -3
Eildon Reservoir / 3 334 / 1 902 / 57% / 100 / 1 802 / +4

* Menindee surcharge capacity – 2050 GL ** All Data is rounded to nearest GL **

# NSW takes control of Menindee Lakes when storage falls below 480 GL, and control reverts to MDBA when storage next reaches 640 GL

^ % of total active MDBA storage

Snowy Mountains Scheme Snowy diversions for week ending 26 May 2015

Storage / Active Storage (GL) / Weekly Change (GL) / Diversion (GL) / This Week / From 1 May 2015
Lake Eucumbene - Total / 2 156 / -3 / Snowy-Murray / +20 / 26
Snowy-Murray Component / 1 062 / +22 / Tooma-Tumut / +2 / 15
Target Storage / 1 290 / Net Diversion / 17 / 11
Murray 1 Release / +23 / 48

Major Diversions from Murray and Lower Darling (GL) *

New South Wales / This Week / From 1 July 2014 / Victoria / This Week / From 1 July 2014
Murray Irrig. Ltd (Net) / -1.0 / 842 / Yarrawonga Main Channel (net) / 0 / 301
Wakool Sys Allowance / 1.5 / 85 / Torrumbarry System + Nyah (net) / 0 / 617
Western Murray Irrigation / 0.1 / 24 / Sunraysia Pumped Districts / 0.3 / 105
Licensed Pumps / 2.1 / 280 / Licensed pumps - GMW (Nyah+u/s) / 1.1 / 74
Lower Darling / 0.1 / 61 / Licensed pumps - LMW / 5.7 / 295
TOTAL / 2.8 / 1292 / TOTAL / 7.1 / 1392

* Figures derived from estimates and monthly data. Please note that not all data may have been available at the time of creating this report.

** All data above is rounded to nearest 100 ML for weekly data and nearest GL for cumulative data**

Flow to South Australia (GL)
* Flow to SA will be greater than normal entitlement for this month due to the delivery of additional environmental water. / Entitlement this month / 93.0 *
Flow this week / 27.4 / (3 900 ML/day)
Flow so far this month / 121.9
Flow last month / 183.0

Salinity (EC) (microSiemens/cm at 25o C)

Current / Average over the last week / Average since 1 August 2014
Swan Hill / 70 / 70 / 80
Euston / - / - / 100
Red Cliffs / 170 / 130 / 120
Merbein / 150 / 120 / 120
Burtundy (Darling) / 920 / 920 / 820
Lock 9 / 100 / 100 / 130
Lake Victoria / 140 / 160 / 210
Berri / 260 / 250 / 220
Waikerie / 300 / 310 / 290
Morgan / 290 / 300 / 280
Mannum / 320 / 320 / 320
Murray Bridge / 320 / 320 / 350
Milang (Lake Alex.) / 700 / 700 / 750
Poltalloch (Lake Alex.) / 700 / 1 320 / 650
Meningie (Lake Alb.) / 2 190 / 2 230 / 2 420
Goolwa Barrages / 2 710 / 3 120 / 1 520

River Levels and Flows Week ending Wednesday 27 May 2015

Minor Flood Stage / Gauge / Height / Flow / Trend / Average Flow this Week / Average Flow last Week
River Murray / (m) / local (m) / (m AHD) / (ML/day) / (ML/day) / (ML/day)
Khancoban / - / - / - / 4 740 / F / 3 980 / 3 270
Jingellic / 4.0 / 1.91 / 208.43 / 5 840 / R / 5 390 / 4 610
Tallandoon ( Mitta Mitta River ) / 4.2 / 1.75 / 218.64 / 1 400 / F / 3 670 / 3 700
Heywoods / 5.5 / 1.42 / 155.05 / 600 / S / 600 / 620
Doctors Point / 5.5 / 1.62 / 150.09 / 1 910 / S / 2 190 / 2 330
Albury / 4.3 / 0.80 / 148.24 / - / - / - / -
Corowa / 4.6 / 0.79 / 126.81 / 2 130 / F / 2 410 / 3 110
Yarrawonga Weir (d/s) / 6.4 / 1.31 / 116.35 / 7 340 / F / 9 040 / 9 910
Tocumwal / 6.4 / 2.04 / 105.88 / 8 510 / F / 9 360 / 9 370
Torrumbarry Weir (d/s) / 7.3 / 2.81 / 81.35 / 8 770 / F / 8 810 / 7 420
Swan Hill / 4.5 / 1.60 / 64.52 / 8 670 / R / 8 260 / 6 470
Wakool Junction / 8.8 / 3.55 / 52.67 / 10 320 / R / 9 330 / 7 240
Euston Weir (d/s) / 9.1 / 1.84 / 43.68 / 9 860 / R / 9 090 / 7 020
Mildura Weir (d/s) / - / - / 10 810 / F / 11 150 / 7 100
Wentworth Weir (d/s) / 7.3 / 2.97 / 27.73 / 12 460 / R / 11 290 / 7 480
Rufus Junction / - / 3.03 / 19.96 / 3 800 / R / 3 540 / 3 790
Blanchetown (Lock 1 d/s) / - / 0.59 / - / 3 820 / F / 4 000 / 3 680
Tributaries
Kiewa at Bandiana / 2.8 / 1.55 / 154.78 / 1 290 / F / 1 590 / 1 650
Ovens at Wangaratta / 11.9 / 8.14 / 145.82 / 950 / F / 1 230 / 1 360
Goulburn at McCoys Bridge / 9.0 / 1.47 / 92.89 / 920 / S / 980 / 1 010
Edward at Stevens Weir (d/s) / 5.5 / 1.90 / 81.67 / 1 840 / F / 1 850 / 2 240
Edward at Liewah / - / 2.75 / 58.13 / 2 230 / R / 1 820 / 1 170
Wakool at Stoney Crossing / - / 1.48 / 54.98 / 560 / R / 490 / 470
Murrumbidgee at Balranald / 5.0 / 0.66 / 56.62 / 340 / S / 350 / 400
Barwon at Mungindi / 6.1 / 3.45 / - / 620 / F / 750 / 1 430
Darling at Bourke / 9.0 / 4.13 / - / 500 / S / 480 / 470
Darling at Burtundy Rocks / - / 1.05 / - / 0 / F / 0 / 0
Natural Inflow to Hume / 4 810 / 6 470

(i.e. Pre Dartmouth & Snowy Mountains scheme)

Weirs and Locks Pool levels above or below Full Supply Level (FSL)

Murray / FSL (m AHD) / u/s / d/s / FSL (m AHD) / u/s / d/s
Yarrawonga / 124.90 / -2.59 / - / No. 7 Rufus River / 22.10 / +0.04 / +0.72
No. 26 Torrumbarry / 86.05 / +0.00 / - / No. 6 Murtho / 19.25 / +0.02 / -0.05
No. 15 Euston / 47.60 / -0.13 / - / No. 5 Renmark / 16.30 / -0.00 / +0.11
No. 11 Mildura / 34.40 / -43.40 / +0.30 / No. 4 Bookpurnong / 13.20 / +0.03 / +0.32
No. 10 Wentworth / 30.80 / +0.04 / +0.33 / No. 3 Overland Corner / 9.80 / +0.04 / +0.14
No. 9 Kulnine / 27.40 / +0.01 / -0.27 / No. 2 Waikerie / 6.10 / +0.04 / +0.08
No. 8 Wangumma / 24.60 / -0.26 / +0.08 / No. 1 Blanchetown / 3.20 / -0.05 / -0.16

Lower Lakes FSL = 0.75 m AHD

Lake Alexandrina average level for the past 5 days (m AHD) / 0.64

Barrages Fishways at Barrages

Openings / Level (m AHD) / No. Open / Rock Ramp / Vertical Slot
Goolwa / 128 openings / 0.63 / 3 / - / Open
Mundoo / 26 openings / 0.63 / All closed / - / -
Boundary Creek / 6 openings / - / 0.1 / - / -
Ewe Island / 111 gates / - / 3 / - / -
Tauwitchere / 322 gates / 0.65 / 20 / Open / Open

AHD = Level relative to Australian Height Datum, i.e. height above sea level

GPO Box 1801 Canberra ACT 2601 Telephone: 02 6279 0100 Facsimile: 02 6248 8053

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Email: Web: www.mdba.gov.au ABN 13679821382

Week ending Wednesday 27 May 2015