Torrumbarry weir pool leak: Irrigators’ summer water supply at risk

The MDBA says the leaking Koondrook-Perricoota regulator is “in urgent need of repair”. Victorian irrigators’ supplies are at risk.

The Torrumbarry weir (left) with the Koondrook-Perricoota regulator (left) during a release of environmental in spring 2019. Picture Yuri Kouzmin.

The Torrumbarry weir pool is leaking through a regulator into the Koondrook-Perricoota forest, putting local and Lower Murray irrigators at risk of water shortages if it fails this summer.

The Murray Darling Basin Authority has spent months trying to repair leaks on the downstream side of the regulator, which has been plagued with structural problems ever since it was built more than a decade ago to release environmental water from the weir pool into the forest.

The MDBA and WaterNSW announced this month they would now build a coffer dam to try and separate the inlet regulator from the broader Torrumbarry weir pool and allow the structure to be dewatered for repair.

WaterNSW operations executive manager Ronan Magaharan said “we’ve had ongoing monitoring on the KP inlet regulator and our recent dam safety inspections have shown elevated risks of a potential piping failure, so it’s necessary that we take the structure offline for repair.

“There is no immediate risk to the community, however it is important that we act now to maintain the integrity of the structure and the Torrumbarry weir pool.”

But the MDBA has stated the coffer dam will take at least six to seven months to build.

“While the structure is now deemed to be in urgent need of repair, there is no immediate risk to human safety,” an MDBA spokesman said.

Wakool landholder and irrigator John Lolicato, who sits on the Koondrook-Perricoota Alliance of local community stakeholders and government agencies, said human lives may not be at risk if the regulator fails, “but Victorian irrigators risk losing access to the Torrumbarry weir pool.

“I can’t understand why it will take six months to build, (given) we were able to build one on another regulator in 2010 in days.”

Victorian Farmers Federation water council chair Andrew Leahy said if the KP regulator “blows out you can’t hold the height up on Torrumbarry, which is a huge issue”.

The impacts are also likely to spread beyond local irrigators, given the Torrumbarry weir pool plays a key role in holding water in reserve to meet peak summer demand across downstream horticultural zones.

MDBA asset manager Angus Paton said environmental water would not be able to be delivered to Koondrook-Perricoota Forest until the regulator was repaired.

Mr Paton said “the timeframe for remediation of the inlet regulator itself is still to be confirmed and subject to funding and approval by Ministerial Council”.

Once construction of the coffer dam commences, updates will be provided via the WaterNSW website.