NORTHERN Victoria’s major water storages are proving their value to the agricultural industry during the ongoing dry spell. Goulburn-Murray Water (GMW) has now 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 200,000ML more 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 628,000ML for the same stage in the season. GMW water delivery services general manager Warren Blyth said the water kept in GMW’s lakes, dams and reservoirs had helped GMW 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 GMW storages have received so far during the 2024/25 water year (1 July to 30 June). 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 megalitres 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 is 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. “The likes of Lake Eildon, Lake Eppalock and Dartmouth Dam are still between 60-85 per cent full, so despite the dry weather, this will support water availability in the following irrigation season.” People can learn more about the outlook for the upcoming irrigation season on the Northern Victoria Resource Manager website: https://nvrm.net.au/outlooks/current-outlook. People can visit the GMW website to see a list of up-to-date storage levels: www.gmwater.com.au/storage-levels.
