Burrinjuck strategy minimises pressure on river

4pm, 9 December 2010

The strategy to create space in Burrinjuck Dam has been successful, allowing State Water to now capture inflows and minimise pressure on the swollen Murrumbidgee River system.

The rate of inflows to the dam is currently at 148,700ML/day, and water is being released at a rate of 17,200ML/day.

State Water’s acting water delivery manager Scott Barber said the storage level at Burrinjuck near Yass, was currently at 99.6%.

“The decision was made this afternoon to capture as much water as we can to allow the tributaries to fall downstream and minimise pressure on the river system,” Mr Barber said.

“The Bureau forecast is for clearing conditions over the next few days, which will provide an opportunity for controlled further releases from Burrinjuck next week if needed.

“We’ve met our objective of reducing the storage to create space for these flows now entering the dam which means we can use the dam to mitigate impacts downstream.”

Inflows into Blowering Dam have increased as water is being released by Snowy Hydro as a result of local inflows upstream of Blowering at a rate of 17,000 ML/day.

The storage is currently at 103% of capacity.

“The rate of outflows from Blowering is expected to reach 14,000ML/day this evening.

“This rate of outflow has risen on the back of Snowy Hydro releases from upstream which commenced at 9am.”

For information on flood warnings, please contact the State Emergency Service on 132 500 or visit the website www.ses.nsw.gov.au.

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