River Murray water allocations – 1 October 2019

The Department for Environment and Water (DEW) River Murray Water Delivery Manager Jarrod Eaton said the last fortnight has seen some rainfall and improved inflows into the storages.

“The majority of improvements were in the Hume and Dartmouth Reservoirs and the Kiewa River, which contribute to South Australia's overall water resource availability from the River Murray System,” Mr Eaton said.

“Despite the additional rainfall over the last few weeks, MDBA controlled storages have decreased by 1 per cent (to 44 per cent capacity). This is well below the end of September average of 80 per cent.

“Information provided by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) shows a 40 gigalitre improvement in South Australia’s water availability over the past fortnight, which has resulted in this further increase to irrigation allocations in South Australia.

According to the projections, unless improvements in water availability for the remainder of 2019-20 are worse than for any year in the last 30, water allocations are likely to get to 100 per cent by the end of the water year.

“While this is an improved situation, below average rainfall and above average temperatures are forecast by the Bureau of Meteorology over the next few months.

DEW will continue to update its water allocations fortnightly while allocations remain below 100 per cent. The next update will be provided on 15 October 2019.

“With current low levels of water in storage and low inflows likely over the rest of spring and into early summer, water availability is likely to be limited heading into the 2020-21 water year,” Mr Eaton said.

Click here for more information about water allocations and to view the Water Allocation Statement.