Dry winter curbs irrigator allocations with Murray at 19 per cent
Irrigators are banking on a wet spring, following two dry months which has seen water storage inflows slowed. Here’s how Victorian allocations have changed.
VICTORIAN Murray irrigators allocations have risen from 15 to 19 per cent of their high-reliability water shares, while those on the Goulburn remain unchanged at 37 per cent.
Northern Victoria’s resource manager Mark Bailey said continued dry conditions during June and July had slowed storage inflows.
“Rainfall in July was below average in the catchment areas,” Dr Bailey said.
“After a very dry June, the continued low rainfall meant streamflows slowed appreciably.
“Flows into the major storages in the Goulburn, Broken, Campaspe and Loddon systems in the past fortnight were close to the estimates. That means we didn’t pick up more resource for allocation in these systems.
“Flows into the Murray system were enough to increase the seasonal determination by 4 per cent.
“The mid-river storages such as Waranga Basin in the Goulburn system and Lake Victoria in the Murray system are effectively full.
“Flows into Lake Eildon, Lake Hume and Dartmouth Dam plus any supply that is met from catchment flows will define seasonal determination improvements in the Goulburn and Murray systems over the next few months.”
Dr Bailey said the latest Bureau of Meteorology seasonal outlook still favours above-average rainfall across the catchments from August to October.
“The outlooks for August and September do not favour wetter or drier conditions over the catchment areas,” Dr Bailey said.
“The Bureau’s El Niño – Southern Oscillation outlook remains at La Niña watch meaning the chance of a La Niña forming is around 50 per cent in late winter or early spring. La Niña events may support rainfall across southeast Australia.”
Dr Bailey advised entitlement holders to use the seasonal determination outlooks and weather information when planning their water needs in 2020-21.
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