Sydney’s Warragamba Dam has reached capacity and begun to spill after heavy rainfall

Sydney’s Warragamba Dam is experiencing its first significant overflow event since 1990 as a once-in-a-century rain even takes its toll.

Sydney’s Warragamba Dam has reached capacity and is spilling over, with other dams also expected to overflow.

Authorities have issued an evacuation order for the town of Picton south of the dam after the spill and were closely monitoring flood-prone areas of western Sydney.

“As a result of rising flood waters, people within the Picton CBD should prepare to evacuate,” the NSW SES said.

“Residents should monitor the situation and be prepared to evacuate when instructed to do so.

“A flood evacuation order will be issued by the NSW SES if evacuation is required.”

The dam, which provides much of the drinking water for Sydney, began spilling over Saturday afternoon in what experts expected to be the first significant overflow of the reservoir since 1990, although there have been smaller breaches more recently.

“We are in uncharted territory,” warned Ian Wright, a water expert at Western Sydney University, who said the rapid urbanisation of the western Sydney area around the Warragamba Dam since 1990 meant its spillover could no longer be reabsorbed by surrounding bushland.

“The urban development adds hard, impervious surfaces, and drainage infrastructure. In heavy rain, this can rapidly generate high-velocity floodwaters,” Wright tweeted.

The dam had been at 99.2 per cent capacity on Saturday and before heavy rainfall on Saturday and Sunday.

WaterNSW media adviser Benjamin Ansell told news.com.au that the dam began spilling about 3pm.

Footage posted on social media shows water being released.

“With heavy rainfall persisting, we are also expecting to see spills at Nepean, Cataract, Cordeaux and Avon dams,” WaterNSW said on its Twitter account.

Water flowing through the radial gates at #WarragambaDam today. #SydneyStormpic.twitter.com/aAoFJwf3zX

— Benjamin Ansell (@averagejourno) March 21, 2021

Water is being released from Warragamba Dam after it reached capacity.

BOM flood operations specialist Justin Robinson told reporters on Saturday that waters from the spill would combine with river flows from the Upper Nepean and also the Grose River, as well as local tributaries including South Creek.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said emergency services were preparing for either a one-in-five, one-in-10 or one-in-20 year event.

She has asked residents in the catchment area to be on high alert and to monitor websites in case they were asked to evacuate.

“The window for evacuation is often not a big one depending on where you live,” she said.

Ms Berejiklian said the SES was doing its best to predict what may happen in the next few hours and was trying to avoid people being evacuated at night.

MAYOR SAYS LOCALS ARE ‘WORRIED’

Local businesses and homeowners have been sandbagging their business, and are “worried” about potential flooding, Robert Khan, the mayor of the Wollondilly Shire told the ABC on Sunday.

Mr Khan said Sydney Water and the State Government were in the process of extending the wall of Warragamba Dam. “So that will probably help in the future. But I know that they‘re in process at the moment.”

Mr Khan said many residents have already prepared to evacuate, adding it was the most rain he’d seen in his 40 years in the area.

“The SES is doing a great job and really supporting the locals, which is fantastic to see. And I would just take my hat off to them because they‘re doing a great job. “Shout to them, they‘re doing a great job indeed.”

MAJOR FLOODING POSSIBLE

Mr Robinson said on Saturday the exact timing of the dam spill would depend on which areas of the catchment received the heaviest rainfall and what time they receive that rainfall.

He said there could be some minor flooding at Penrith and North Richmond later on Saturday and some moderate flooding may develop later.

“Our current expectations were around the moderate level but we’re definitely highlighting to the community that major flooding is possible,” Mr Robinson said.

“For those people in the Greater Sydney area, I think that the area of most concern, both to the Bureau and those impacted communities is the potential for very significant flooding across the Hawkesbury-Nepean River,” Mr Robinson said.

He said there was concerns for all suburbs along the Nepean River but in particular Penrith and Windsor can get very deep levels of flooding.

“The Bureau issued a flood warning this morning and that was updated just a few minutes ago. And the current warning is basically suggesting that we possibly might see moderate to major flooding,” Mr Robinson said.

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The Warragamba Dam earlier. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

“It’s still early days because it really depends upon how that rainfall unfolds over the next 24 hours.

“But looking at our current forecast, we’re thinking that it might be similar to the February 2020 event, which had very significant impacts on the community, especially at those two bridges, the North Richmond and Windsor.

“I want to just emphasise to the public – you need to keep across the current warnings and also the messages from the emergency services.”

Mr Robinson said Warragamba Dam, which supplies water for five million people living in Sydney and the lower Blue Mountains, had also spilled previously in 2013 and 2016 but the last significant spill was in August 1990.

It is located about 65 kilometres west of Sydney, and stores around 80 per cent of the city’s water.

The dam was created by damming Warragamba River and flooding the Burragorang Valley, and is four times the size of Sydney Harbour.

Between 1998 and 2002, the dam was upgraded to increase its capacity, including the construction of an auxiliary spillway.

Warragamba Dam stores about 80 per cent of Sydney’s water.

On its website, WaterNSW explains the measures in place during an extreme flood event.

“Five erodible earth and rockfill embankments called ‘fuse plugs’, constructed across the upstream crest of the auxiliary spillway, would progressively wash away (or ‘trigger’) when overtopped by the rising floodwaters,” the website says.

“The fuse plugs are approximately 14m high and the crests are set at different levels so the embankments trigger at different flood levels.

“As each fuse plug progressively washes away, the capacity of the auxiliary spillway increases to pass the incoming floodwaters.”

‘PROLONGED’ WET CONDITIONS

The NSW Premier warned the state was facing “prolonged” wet conditions, with rain may not stop until Thursday or Friday.

A BOM spokeswoman said wet conditions were expected to continue on Sunday.

The rain should then shift to the lower Blue Mountains and highlands of the Illawarra tomorrow, with rainfall expected over the Riverina tomorrow and inland areas on Monday and Tuesday.

A mini tornado wrecked havoc in the western Sydney suburb of Chester Hill on Saturday, bringing down trees and disrupting power to 1000 residents.

Sydneysiders have been advised to stay home this weekend and the Parramatta River is already overflowing, with people taking to social media to share photos of flooding.

😮 the Parramatta River... usually there’s a bike path there! pic.twitter.com/urE1Vhgmps

— Ruby Cornish (@rubycornish) March 19, 2021

#parramattariver at 2 meters... still rising. #sydneyweatherpic.twitter.com/nfkWmy8ePt

— 💎CHAOS💎 (@dxstxnydraws) March 20, 2021

There is also flooding in other areas of Sydney including Marrickville.

How high’s the water, mama?
Update from swamplands Marrickville. pic.twitter.com/YOsp68Gzqp

— Peter Lalor (@plalor) March 20, 2021