Drone footage shows River Murray flowing very full after heavy rains over state
AMAZING drone footage captures the River Murray awash with life and dams at full capacity, following heavy rain falls over the state. SEE THE VIDEO
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FLOWS into the River Murray are at their highest since 2012, providing much needed relief to the waterway, regenerating animal, plant and fish life and helping flush salinity out of the system.
The extra water is already causing minor flooding on the river’s lower reaches, with the River Glen Marina near Murray Bridge feeling the brunt, causing houseboat owners to evacuate.
A combination of South Australia’s wild and stormy weather and flooding upstream has prompted the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources to officially designate the river as being in “high flow’’.
Flows of more than 40,000 megalitres a day are expected to cross the border this week and the department’s manager of water resource operation, Jarrod Eaton, said that could rise to 50,000 ML in the next month The flow would need to rise to 60,000ML before flood warnings were issued.
In the first quarter of the year, Mr Eaton said flows had been “at near historic lows’’.
“These would be the best flows down the River Murray System since 2012,’’ he said. “It’s quite a remarkable turnaround compared to last year.’’
There has been significant flooding upstream. Residents in the small Victorian town of Charlton have been evacuated as the Avoca River reached a peak of 7.5 metres.
In NSW, the regional centre of Wagga Wagga has also been hit by floods, while the country town of Narrendera was also at risk of some flooding as the Murrumbidgee peaked.
Recent flooding along the Lachlan and Bogan rivers in NSW is expected to continue to run into the Murray Darling.
Riverland residents said the river was teeming with wildlife and water flows have reinvigorated the riverbanks.
River expert Tony Sharley, who runs the Murray River Walk tourism business, said it was exciting to see so much life back in the river.
“Most plans and animals have their breeding cyles geared to flooding. Fish will spawn in floods, yabbies will lay eggs in floods, vegetation will germinate,’’ he said
Irrigators are also optimistic of winning increased allocations.
Renmark Irrigation Trust chairman Peter Duggin said this was “as good as it gets” for irrigators after an agonising opening water allocation of 36 per cent in July.
“In the Riverland in the last week we’ve had 80mm of rain, but for the past two months we’d been watching Adelaide and the Hills get all the rain,” Mr Duggin said.
“Ironically, now we’re getting the rain as well as the high water allocation.
“It looks highly likely next year we’ll get 100 per cent as well, so it’s nice to know that for the future.”
Sky News Weather senior meteorologist Tom Saunders said the long-term weather outlook showed above average rain to the Murray Darling Basin over the next eight months.
“The inflows will be well above what we’ve seen in the past four years,” Mr Saunders said.
However, houseboat owner David Laing was caught unawares when the water rose an estimated 60cm at the River Glen Marina near Murray Bridge and had to evacuate.
“It was up to our knees,’’ he said, saying strong winds as well as rain had been responsible for the sudden surge.
“Even when it rains for two or three days the water never gets up to that level,’’ he said.