The state’s water bureaucracy has savaged suggestions it was to blame for flooded Riverina towns and farms.
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It comes amid sustained outrage from local farmers – like Old Man Creek farmer David Goldman – who claimed environmental water stored in the Burrinjuck Dam destined for South Australia’s Lower Lakes and Coorong significantly contributed to October’s floods.
Riverina farmers have estimated more than 60 per cent of the water in the Burrinjuck Dam before Setpember’s torrential rain was environmental.
However, WaterNSW – the country’s largest water supplier and operator of the Blowering and Burrinkjuck dams – has defended its handling of storage heights.
“WaterNSW made water releases from Burrinjuck Dam on the Murrumbidgee River in the months prior to the 2016 winter/spring flooding, taking the storage down from 53 per cent of capacity in February, to less than 35 per cent in early June,” a spokesperson said.
“From June to the commencement of flooding in early September inflows from the dam’s upstream catchment were captured (550 gigalitres) while environmental releases (300 gigalitres over that same period) – required by the government’s Murrumbidgee Water Sharing Plan – were deliberately constrained to not exceed a river height of 4.0 metres at Wagga, well below minor flood level of 7.3 metres.”
The dam operator is adamant it successfully balanced its releases in accordance with downstream river heights to keep flooding in check.
“As Burrinjuck dam neared capacity WaterNSW conducted several flood mitigation releases, but only once downstream tributary flow rates had peaked, to avoid aggravating the flooding,” the spokesperson said.
“This flood mitigation strategy was successfully used in all three flood zones – the Murrumbidgee, Lachlan, and Macquarie valleys – and is widely acknowledged as having reduced the severity of downstream flooding in all three areas.”
Binya farmer and independent candidate for the seat of Murray Helen Dalton said too much environmental water was being stored in dams devised for hydro electricity and farming.
“Environmentalists – who have limited understanding of our environment and what we produce – have re-purposed the Blowering and Burrinjuck dams under our noses,” she said.
“No one disputes importance of environment, we live and work in it, but we need to be able to produce food to keep rural and regional areas going.
“A lot more water could be allocated to production and the environment wouldn't miss it.”
