Wyangala at highest level in 10 years

12 December 2010 – 10:30AM

Wyangala Dam is at 86% of capacity, an increase of more than 80% since February this year and its highest level since 2001.

The dam had significant inflows over the past fortnight seeing it rise more than 40% since the start of the month.

State Water’s manager water delivery Dan Berry said the heavy rains in the Lachlan catchment mean the dam was now providing significant flood mitigation benefits while storing water for the years ahead.

“Inflows into Wyangala peaked at a rate of 390,000ML/day which is a little less than one Sydney Harbour entering the dam each day.

“The dam has been able to capture these inflows and mitigate the flood, preventing the water from adding to the existing flooding we are seeing around Nanami and Forbes.”

The dam is well positioned to take further inflows and mitigate future floods even if it spills in the coming months, Mr Berry said.

“Site managers at the dam will continue undertaking the necessary checks and preparations to ensure the storage is ready to go should we see further high inflows into the dam.

“I can assure people the dam can safely fill and spill as normal; the safety upgrade works taking place will not impact the operation of the dam,” he said.

State Water will continue to monitor the level of the storage as well as inflows and weather forecasts.

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

-ENDS-
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