Water levels in lower reaches of the River Murray and Lower Lakes ‘too low’

Only a matter of weeks after floods hit the River Murray, boaties in the lower reaches are now struggling to launch their vessels.

Low water levels in the lower end of the Murray have locals scratching their heads, so soon after their once-in-a-generation flood.

Residents around the Lower Lakes in particular have taken to social media to express their surprise, with one remarking how low levels had made things visible for the first time since the millennium drought ended in 2009.

“Where has all the water gone?” was one comment from local Anni Milln on the public Meningie Chat Page Facebook page.

“Seems like they have left the plug out,” another from Tim Wright.

And Cheryle Cleggett wrote: “We can see things that haven’t been visible since the drought.”

Boaties at Meningie have had difficulties launching and SA Water says levels in the Lower Lakes are “lower than what they are targeting”.

An aerial view of Lake Alexandrina.

But 40-year local veteran and Coorong Wild Seafood owner Tracy Hill said despite the flood, the fluctuations were normal.

“We had to drive our boats out for a kilometre during the last big drought,’’ she said.

SA Water said on Friday the low levels were a result of a few things, including natural factors.

Speaking in the Riverland, SA Water River Murray operations senior manager Garry Fyfe said all locks were clear and now operating normally, but there had been isolated boat launching problems.

“We have seen that people at Meningie are struggling to get boats in,’’ he said.

“Lake Alexandrina is low at the moment. It is down 0.52 of a metre, but we have had a prevailing (southerly and easterly) wind condition which pushes water away from some areas.

“We are at levels we would normally be at this time of year, but it is just the change. A few weeks ago we were one and a half metres over in the river and now at half a metre below in some parts and so it is ‘where did all the water go?’.

“There is also a lot of water still stuck behind the flood levies that failed and let water in behind them.

“Also we have been releasing a lot of water (from locks and barrages) to flush the system to the Southern Ocean.”

The office of the Swan Reach caravan park after the 2023 Murray River Flooding. Pictured on March 8th 2023. Picture: Ben Clark

Mr Fyfe said a slightly lower river level was helping to drain trapped water and ease the load on people pumping floodwaters back into the system.

“The Lower Lakes are below what we are targeting but it is within the envelope,’’ he said.

Murray Bridge Mayor Wayne Thorley said there was still a major water pumping operation underway and battle to open ramps. He said four of the council’s seven ramps were still closed.

“Lower river levels are helping that pumping significantly,’’ he said.

Boating Industry Association spokesman George Bolton said balance had to be restored to the flooded system.

“The councils are trying to open the ramps up but the issue is they all have to be inspected to make sure there haven’t been washouts and engineers have to check structures,’’ he said.

“Not too many are open yet.”