More positive news for SA irrigators with latest allocation outlook
In further good news for the state’s River Murray communities, opening water allocation projections have been revised up to 94 per cent for the 2021‑22 water year. Actual opening allocations will be announced on 15 June.
Chrissie Bloss, the Department for Environment and Water’s Manager of Water Delivery, said it is likely that rainfall over the coming months will provide further improvements to South Australia’s water availability for 2021-22.
“This is based on a worst-case water availability assessment provided by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, which projects that the minimum amount of water that will be delivered to South Australia as part of its Entitlement in the 2021-22 water year is 1,460 gigalitres (GL),” Chrissie said.
“Projections show that in every scenario other than the worst-case, the opening allocation on 1 July 2021 is likely to be 100 percent.
“As mentioned last month, given this strong starting position and the forecast climate outlook, there is a very high likelihood allocations will reach 100 per cent by the start of the 2021-22 water year.
“It is important to remember that as the minimum opening allocation announced on 15 April 2021 was greater than 50 per cent, the carryover trigger for 2021-22 has not been met.
“This means that any water volumes rolled over from a previous year will no longer be available as outlined in the Water Allocation Plan for the River Murray Prescribed Watercourse.”
For more information about these projections, or to access the new Water Calculator visit the Department for Environment and Water’s website.
