A Wagga MP is calling on the government to limit levels at Blowering and Burrinjuck Dams to 80 per cent, amid the threat of ongoing flooding for communities.

Addressing parliament, Member for Wagga Dr Joe McGirr said farmers and landowners had spent long and frustrating hours of work moving stock and preparing their properties for floods and face the prospect of the situation repeating in coming months.

“Dam levels are managed to ensure a supply of water for irrigators and the environment. Repeatedly we’re told that this supply is the priority, yet there is a price to be paid for this.

“Dam levels are kept high, which means that at any time a sudden weather event can fill catchments and cause the dams to spill.

“I understand the need for water for farmers and the environment further down the river, but there is a question of balance and another of priority.”

The MP noted that the high rainfall at Blowering is complicated by Snowy Hydro’s need to discharge water into Blowering from Jounama as part of its power generation.

“I am calling on the Government to make sure that the relevant dam levels are set at 80 per cent for the rest of this year, when it is likely that we will face significant rainfall,” Dr McGirr said.

“The predictions are that with the Indian Ocean dipole, La Niña and so on we are in for a wet few months. Let us set the dam levels so that flooding is avoided.

“As it stands the residents of my electorate … will be spending the rest of the year in a state of constant anxiety, terrified of a repeat of the devastating floods they endured in 2012. Surely we can learn from the past and do better in managing our dam levels.”

WaterNSW noted that both Blowering and Burrinjuck dams had received more water than each storage could hold over the past year. It also said it was important to note that while flooding may be occurring downstream of the dam, this is not necessarily caused solely by dam releases.

This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 18 August 2022.