River Murray Weekly ReportFor the week ending Wednesday, 14 August 2019

Trim Ref: D19/37033

Rainfall and inflowsAn intense winter weather system this week brought widespread rain across the southern fringe of the Murray-Darling Basin (Map 1). As a sequence of vigorous cold fronts crossed the region, over one metre of snow accumulated across higher parts of the south-east Alps. The highest totals in Victoria fell across the north-east and included 146 mm at Rocky Valley, 83 mm at Dohertys and 65 mm at Cheshunt. In NSW, Khancoban recorded 42 mm, with Tumut and Tumbarumba reporting similar totals. The NSW Southern Tablelands also experienced moderate rainfall with 43 mm of snow recorded at Mount Ginni. In South Australia there was rainfall around the Lower Lakes, where 37 mm fell at Milang and 42 mm Meningie, while 36 mm was recorded at nearby Murray Bridge. Mount Barker recorded amongst the highest rainfall in the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin with 70 mm. Little to no rainfall was recorded over the north-west of the Basin. The Bureau of Meteorology is forecast ing dry conditions across the southern Basin over the next few days, with further precipitation likely later next week.

Map 1 - Murray-Darling Basin rainfall totals for week ending 14 August (Source: Bureau of Meteorology)

There was a relatively modest stream flow response in the Upper Murray tributaries as much of the precipitation that fell on the upper catchments remains on the ground as snow. The best responses were in the Ovens River,

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where the flow at Wangaratta peaked at over 8,000 ML/day before receding to 6,900 ML/day. On the upper Murray at Bringenbrong, flows increased to a peak of 6,500 ML/day and are now receding (Photo 1).

Flow at other key locations in the upper Murray catchment including Hinnomunjie Bridge on the upper Mitta Mitta River, Biggara on the upper Murray, Bandiana on the Kiewa River as well as Peechelba on the Ovens River can be found at the MDBA’s River Murray data webpage. Up-to-date river data for sites in the upper Murray can also be found at Bureau of Meteorology’s (BoM) website and in the Murray River Basin daily river report at the WaterNSW website.

Photo 1: Recently installed Murray Cray sculpture at Bringenbrong Bridge on the upper Murray River (Photo courtesy of Hugo Bowman, MDBA).

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River operations

River operationsThe MDBA active storage increased this week by 100 GL to 3,772 GL (45% capacity).

At Dartmouth Reservoir, the storage fell by 21 GL to 2,335 GL (61% capacity) due to transfers from Dartmouth to Hume Reservoir. These transfers are continuing to support system demands downstream of Hume.

The release from Dartmouth, measured at Colemans, is currently 6,500 ML/day. Releases for the remainder of August are planned to vary between 4,000 ML/day to 6,500 ML/day. Over the coming months, releases will continue to be varied in a manner that will transfer the target volume to Hume, whilst seeking to minimise erosion along the Mitta Mitta River and provide for power generation.

At Hume Reservoir, the storage volume increased by 78 GL to 1,170 GL (39% capacity). Releases from Hume Dam were wound back towards minimums this week in anticipation of the increasing natural tributary inflows from the Kiewa and Ovens Rivers. The Hume release is likely to be maintained around the minimum release (600 ML/day) in coming days in light of the current forecast for further rainfall next week.

Downstream at Lake Mulwala the level is currently 124.82 m AHD and is expected to remain within the normal operating range of 124.6-124.9 m AHD in the coming days. Diversions to the Mulwala Canal restarted late in the week as Murray Irrigation Limited (MIL) completed further works on their irrigation system. On the Victorian side, between 120-150 ML/day is being diverted to Yarrawonga Main Channel (YMC). Release downstream of Yarrawonga Weir peaked around 13,000 ML/day during the week and is currently around 9,500 ML/day.

Environmental water holders will be using environmental entitlements in the River Murray throughout winter and spring to water important sites building resilience should ongoing hot and dry conditions persist in coming months. Over the past week, water for the environment was initially being released from Hume to target a pulse downstream of Yarrawonga of up to 15,000 ML/day. However, given the rainfall outlook, the release from Hume Dam was wound back towards the minimum requirement of 600 ML/d in anticipation of higher inflows from the Kiewa and Ovens Rivers, in order to reduce the likelihood of the flow downstream of Yarrawonga exceeding 15,000 ML/day. This adaptive management of releases is a collaborative effort between environmental water holders, state water resource managers and river operators.

In September 2019, a second environmental pulse from Hume Dam is planned. This will build on the benefits from delivering environmental water during August by inundating additional parts of the Barmah-Millewa Forest, improving access to food and habitat for native fish. Return flows from this event will be coordinated with a planned environmental flow from the Goulburn River again providing benefits along the River Murray to the Coorong in South Australia. Updates on environmental watering actions during winter and spring 2019 are available from Commonwealth Environmental Water Office website. For more information on how environmental water is helping to improve the health of rivers in the Basin see the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment website and the latest fact sheet from the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office.

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Transfers from Dartmouth to Hume continue. Weir pool levels to rise at Euston, Lock 9, 8 & 7. Barrages close to limit intrusion of seawater during high swells and tides.

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Photo 2: Flows in Spring Creek, a tributary of the Ovens River, near Beechworth (Photo courtesy of Hugo Bowman, MDBA).

Diversions at the Edward and Gulpa offtakes are currently near 1,550 and 250 ML/day respectively. Further downstream on the Edward River at Toonalook, the flow is currently being boosted by flow returning from the Millewa forest. Yallakool and Colligen Creeks are currently receiving environmental water that provides winter base flows for native fish. At Stevens Weir the release has averaged near 1,800 ML/day for the week.

On the Goulburn River the flow at McCoys Bridge averaged 1,100 ML/day and is likely to remain around this rate over the coming week.

The current Goulburn IVT balance is around 224 GL. More information regarding current opportunities for allocation trade between the Goulburn and Murray valleys is available at the Victorian water register website.

The diversion at National Channel increased to 1,100 ML/day as water is diverted to refill the Torrumbarry irrigation network. In addition, water from Victorian held environmental entitlements continues to be used to maintain flow in Gunbower Creek for native fish.

The Torrumbarry Weir pool has returned to Full Supply Level (FSL). Downstream of Torrumbarry Weir, the release is currently close to 6,600 ML/day and likely to remain around this rate over the coming week.

Inflows from the Murrumbidgee River, measured at Balranald, averaged around 1,500 ML/day this week. During the first half of August 2019, the Murrumbidgee IVT balance has increased by 62 GL to 100 GL (as at 16 August) and trade from the Murrumbidgee to the Murray is currently closed. Trade from the Murrumbidgee to the Murray opens when the IVT balance falls below 100 GL. This occurs when there is delivery of IVT past Balranald and/or trade from the Murray into the Murrumbidgee.

MDBA is revising their operating planning to account for the increased water available to be called from the Murrumbidgee IVT account. It can be expected that IVT water from the Murrumbidgee will be called in 2019-20 to

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meet future demands. The timing of these deliveries will be informed by the revised operations planning. More information on Murrumbidgee IVT deliveries will be provided in future weekly water reports and the October update of the Annual Operations Outlook. More information regarding current opportunities for allocation trade between the Murrumbidgee and Murray valleys is available at the WaterNSW website.

At Euston, the weir pool level is currently at FSL. The pool level is expected to gradually rise to around 20 cm above FSL over the coming week as part of the weir pool variability program. Varying pool levels helps restore a more natural wetting and drying cycle to riverbanks and adjacent wetlands within the influence of the weir pool. Over the coming weeks the pool level is planned to rise further to around 50 to 60 cm above FSL. Currently the downstream release is around 11,900 ML/day and is expected to continue to recede over the coming week.

The Menindee Lakes storage volume is 15 GL (less than 1% capacity). WaterNSW continues to manage the Menindee Lakes in accordance with the Lower Darling Annual Operations Plan. WaterNSW has advised that releases at Weir 32 are only planned to recommence when significant inflows are received into the Menindee Lakes. Inflows are currently zero and no significant inflows are expected in the near future.

As a result of the widespread drought conditions in NSW many water restrictions are likely to remain in place. More information on drought management activities in NSW can be found on the NSW Government website - Drought Hub.

On the Murray at Wentworth Weir, the pool level is currently targeting 10 cm above FSL to assist pumpers in the upper reaches of the Darling River arm of the weir pool whilst there is no inflow from the Darling River. The downstream release is around 12,700 ML/day and is expected to continue to recede over the coming week.

The Lock 9 pool level is currently surcharged 15 cm above FSL to maximise inflow into Lake Victoria. Downstream at Locks 7 and 8, the pool levels are targeting around 10 cm above FSL during August as part of the weir pool variability program.

At Lake Victoria, water storage increased by 42 GL to 461 GL (68% capacity). The level is expected to continue to increase during the weeks ahead.

The flow to South Australia reduced this week from around 6,900 ML/day to 4,300 ML/day.

The Lower Lakes 5-day average water level increased slightly to 0.80 m AHD. Barrages were mostly closed this week to limit the intrusion of seawater while wild weather lashed the region causing large swells. For more information see the South Australian Department for Environment and Water’s latest River Murray flow report .

For media inquiries contact the Media Officer on 02 6279 0141

ANDREW REYNOLDSExecutive Director, River Management

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Water in Storage Week ending Wednesday 14 Aug 2019

MDBA StoragesFull

Supply Level

Full Supply Volume

Current Storage Level

Current Storage Dead

StorageActive

Storage

Change in Total Storage for the

Week  (m AHD) (GL) (m AHD) (GL) % (GL) (GL) (GL)

Dartmouth Reservoir 486.00 3 856 459.22 2 335 61% 71 2 264 -21Hume Reservoir 192.00 3 005 180.32 1 170 39% 23 1 147 +78Lake Victoria 27.00 677 25.12 461 68% 100 361 +42Menindee Lakes   1 731*   15 1% (- -) # 0 -0Total   9 269   3 981 43% - - 3 772 +100Total Active MDBA Storage             45% ^  

                 

Major State StoragesBurrinjuck Reservoir   1 026   329 32% 3 326 +5Blowering Reservoir   1 631   820 50% 24 796 +19Eildon Reservoir   3 334   1 393 42% 100 1 293 +45

* Menindee surcharge capacity – 2050 GL ** All Data is rounded to nearest GL ** # NSW has sole access to water when the storage falls below 480 GL. MDBA regains access to water when the storage next reaches 640 GL.^ % of total active MDBA storage

Snowy Mountains Scheme Snowy diversions for week ending 13 Aug 2019

Storage Active Storage (GL) Weekly Change (GL) Diversion (GL) This Week From 1 May 2019

Lake Eucumbene - Total 746 -10 Snowy-Murray +19 213Snowy-Murray Component 301 +16 Tooma-Tumut +6 94Target Storage 1 190   Net Diversion 12 119

     Murray 1 Release +20 291

Major Diversions from Murray and Lower Darling (GL) *New South Wales This

Week From 1 July 2019 Victoria This Week From 1 July 2019

Murray Irrig. Ltd (Net) 3.5 23 Yarrawonga Main Channel (net) 0.9 2Wakool Sys Allowance 1.3 8 Torrumbarry System + Nyah (net) 3.1 7Western Murray Irrigation 0.2 1 Sunraysia Pumped Districts 0.3 2

Licensed Pumps n/a 3Licensed pumps - GMW (Nyah+u/s) 1 0

Lower Darling 0.0 0 Licensed pumps - LMW 4.6 5TOTAL 5.0 35 TOTAL 9.9 16

* Figures are derived from actual and estimates where data is unavailable. 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 environmental flows.

Entitlement this month 124.0 *  Flow this week 45.5 (6 500 ML/day)Flow so far this month 105.6Flow last month 185.9

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

  Current Average over the last week Average since 1 August 2019

Swan Hill 90 90 90Euston 100 100 90Red Cliffs 50 80 80Merbein 90 80 80Burtundy (Darling) - - 1 180Lock 9 90 90 90Lake Victoria 130 120 120Berri 150 160 160Waikerie 240 240 250Morgan 250 240 260Mannum 310 320 330

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Murray Bridge 360 360 350Milang (Lake Alex.) 830 840 830Poltalloch (Lake Alex.) 880 820 820Meningie (Lake Alb.) 1 690 1 700 1 690Goolwa Barrages 5 620 5 040 3 920

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River Levels and Flows Week ending Wednesday 14 Aug 2019

 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 - - - 4 880 F 3 090 3 360Jingellic 4.0 2.10 208.62 7 930 F 6 620 5 860Tallandoon ( Mitta Mitta River ) 4.2 3.01 219.90 7 240 F 6 750 6 640Heywoods 5.5 1.78 155.41 1 600 R 3 200 5 040Doctors Point 5.5 2.02 150.49 4 420 R 5 900 7 300Albury 4.3 1.09 148.53 - - - -Corowa 4.6 1.31 127.33 4 390 F 7 220 5 280Yarrawonga Weir (d/s) 6.4 1.52 116.56 8 930 F 11 180 8 560Tocumwal 6.4 2.36 106.20 11 190 F 11 580 8 150Torrumbarry Weir (d/s) 7.3 2.29 80.84 6 590 R 6 310 8 210Swan Hill 4.5 1.29 64.21 6 550 F 7 350 10 480Wakool Junction 8.8 3.41 52.53 9 970 F 11 230 14 260Euston Weir (d/s) 9.1 2.09 43.93 11 910 F 13 120 15 140Mildura Weir (d/s)   - - 13 960 F 14 570 16 520Wentworth Weir (d/s) 7.3 3.38 28.14 12 750 F 13 340 15 560Rufus Junction - 2.96 19.89 3 710 F 5 770 7 870Blanchetown (Lock 1 d/s) - 0.72 - 2 590 F 4 830 8 950               Tributaries              Kiewa at Bandiana 2.8 2.25 155.48 2 450 R 2 440 2 010Ovens at Wangaratta 11.9 10.05 147.73 6 900 F 6 410 3 460Goulburn at McCoys Bridge 9.0 1.69 93.11 1 310 R 1 130 1 900Edward at Stevens Weir (d/s) 5.5 1.93 81.70 1 890 F 1 750 2 110Edward at Liewah - 2.69 58.07 2 110 F 2 240 2 200Wakool at Stoney Crossing - 1.45 54.94 540 R 530 530Murrumbidgee at Balranald 5.0 1.72 57.68 1 290 F 1 450 1 940Barwon at Mungindi 6.1 2.77 - 0 F 0 0Darling at Bourke 9.0 2.98 - 0 F 0 0Darling at Burtundy Rocks - 0.52 - 0 F 0 0               Natural Inflow to Hume           10 540 6 790

(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 -0.08 - No. 7 Rufus River 22.10+0.1

1 +0.65No. 26 Torrumbarry 86.05

+0.00 - No. 6 Murtho 19.25

+0.22 +0.08

No. 15 Euston 47.60+0.0

2 - No. 5 Renmark 16.30+0.0

7 +0.14

No. 11 Mildura 34.40+0.0

0 +0.52 No. 4 Bookpurnong 13.20+0.0

6 +0.39

No. 10 Wentworth 30.80+0.0

9 +0.74 No. 3 Overland Corner 9.80+0.0

0 +0.48

No. 9 Kulnine 27.40+0.1

5 +0.12 No. 2 Waikerie 6.10+0.3

8 +0.13

No. 8 Wangumma 24.60+0.1

1 +0.17 No. 1 Blanchetown 3.20+0.0

2 -0.03

Lower Lakes FSL = 0.75 m AHDLake Alexandrina average level for the past 5 days (m AHD) 0.80

Barrages Fishways at Barrages  Openings Level (m AHD)No. Open Rock RampVertical Slot 1Vertical Slot 2Dual Vertical SlotsGoolwa 128 openings 0.86 3 - Open Open -

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Mundoo 26 openings - 1 - - - OpenHunters Creek - - - - Open - -Boundary Creek 6 openings - 1 - Open - -Ewe Island 111 gates - All closed - - - OpenTauwitchere 322 gates 0.87 4 Open Open Open -AHD = Level relative to Australian Height Datum, i.e. height above sea level

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Week ending Wednesday 14 Aug 2019

State Allocations (as at 15 Aug 2019)NSW - Murray Valley Victorian - Murray Valley

High security 97%General security 0%

High reliability 26%Low reliability 0%

NSW – Murrumbidgee Valley Victorian - Goulburn ValleyHigh security 95%General security 3%

High reliability 32%Low reliability 0%

NSW - Lower Darling South Australia – Murray ValleyHigh security 30%General security 0%

High security 68%

NSW : https://www.industry.nsw.gov.au/water/allocations-availability/allocations/summaryVIC : http://nvrm.net.au/seasonal-determinations/current

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SA : http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/managing-natural-resources/river-murray

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