Wyangala Dam releases mitigate flood risk
15 FEBRUARY 2024WaterNSW is completing a week-long release of extra water from Wyangala Dam, as part of its management of the airspace capacity in regional dams for flood mitigation.
The releases were made following consultation last week with the Lachlan Valley Airspace Reference Panel (LARP), which comprises representatives of local landholders, councils, irrigators, and environmental and other government agencies.
WaterNSW convenes and consults with local airspace reference panels to ensure that local knowledge and downstream conditions are taken into account in making operational decisions about water releases.
The extra releases from Wyangala Dam began on 9 February. Releases doubled from 1,110 to 2,200 megalitres per day (ML/day) for seven days, to maintain Wyangala Dam at around 97% capacity.
The extra releases are planned to be captured in the downstream storage of Lake Brewster for future use by WaterNSW customers and the community.
The releases aim to reduce the risk of Wyangala Dam spilling and reduce the risk of downstream flooding in the event of increased inflows to the dam following storm events.
Prior to making such releases, WaterNSW advised customers and landholders to monitor warnings and river levels closely to make necessary arrangements to ensure infrastructure and livestock are not impacted.
- Subscribe to the WaterNSW Early Warning Network (EWN) for automated alerts on dam and supply activities. When you register, you nominate the dam(s) you are interested in, and the type of notifications required. You can register to receive notifications of a significant dam release and/or an emergency situation.
- For operational updates from WaterNSW, search for the relevant regulated river valley at WaterInsights.
- More information about Wyangala Dam is available on our dams pages.