News

Water to be released into Goulburn system as Lake Eildon reaches capacity

By Murray Silby

Sep 22, 2022

Full: Lake Eildon last weekend in the wet and wild weather. Photo: Daneka Hill. Photo by Daneka Hill

Goulburn-Murray Water says it will release water from Lake Eildon over the long weekend, leading to higher flows downstream in the Goulburn River system.

Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content

G-MW said the release would be below minor flood levels.

River operations co-ordinator Guy Ortlipp said the release was to lower the lake’s level, with more inflows forecast.

“At the start of July, Lake Eildon was at around 82.5 per cent capacity. With inflow conditions, that’s seen the storage start to rise,” he said.

“G-MW commenced releases around the end of August to slow down the rate of fill of the storage. Rainfall and inflows from the weekend just past has seen the storage rise and is now sitting just 99 per cent full.

“G-MW has increased releases to make room for further inflows.”

Lake Eildon spillway in the wet weather on September 18. Photo by Daneka Hill

G-MW said the release would be at a rate below minor flood levels, but it will mean higher flows downstream of Lake Eildon.

“Farmers downstream should prepare to move machinery and livestock to higher ground,” Mr Ortlipp said.

Lake Eildon releases into the Goulburn River, for which minor flood warnings have already been issued this season.

The Lake Eildon announcement follows the news that Dartmouth Dam on the Mitta Mitta and Upper Murray systems is set to spill for the first time in 26 years.

The high water storage levels, combined with above-average rainfall forecasts for spring and summer, has led VICSES to make ongoing warnings for people in the Goulburn and Murray valleys to assess their risk for flooding and to prepare for a flood event.