Reservoirs holding up as demand soars

Goulburn-Murray Water has delivered more than a million megalitres of water to irrigators in the Goulburn-Murray Irrigation District during the 2024-25 irrigation season.

This is more than 200,000 Ml higher than the amount the water corporation had delivered to these irrigators at the same stage during any of the previous 10 irrigation seasons, and is well above the 10-year average of 628,000 Ml for the same stage in the season.

G-MW water delivery services general manager Warren Blyth said the water kept in G-MW’s lakes, dams and reservoirs had helped G-MW meet this demand.

“This season has highlighted the importance of our water storages,” he said.

“The water held in them has been a vital safety net for many irrigators during an incredibly dry period.”

This dryness is highlighted by how little inflows G-MW storages have received so far during the 2024-25 water year (July 1 to June 30).

So far, Lake Eildon has received less than half the inflows it usually would have at this stage in the year.

Lake Eppalock has received 14,500 Ml during the 2024-25 water year so far. This is not only 12 per cent of the average inflows it usually receives by this stage of the water year but is less than a 10th of the inflows it received in one day during the 2022 floods.

The Cairn Curran, Laanecoorie and Tullaroop storages have only received four to six per cent of their usual inflows.

However, Mr Blyth said water supply was still relatively healthy.

“Some of our larger storages are designed to be ‘multi-year’ storages, meaning that once they are full, they have enough water to supply customers for multiple years, regardless of inflows,” he said.

Eildon is currently holding 67 per cent of capacity, Dartmouth 82 per cent, Hume Dam 26 per cent, Nillahcootie 59 per cent, Goulburn Weir 97 per cent and Waranga Basin 42 per cent.

For more information about the outlook for the upcoming 2025-26 irrigation season, go to: https://nvrm.net.au/outlooks/current-outlook