Towns along the Lachlan River are facing their greatest water crisis in modern history with the river predicted to stop running by the end of September unless there are substantial spring rains.
Parkes Shire Council accesses water from the Lachlan River, aquifers near Eugowra as well as from the Lake Endeavour storage that is currently at 81 per cent capacity.
Wyangala Dam is currently operating with extremely low reserves of only 6.1 per cent (approximately 75,000 megalitres).
And the prospect of receiving good rainfall has now deteriorated with the Bureau of Meteorology stating that La Nina is now neutral and expected to persist until late winter.
The NSW Government’s Department of Water and Energy (DWE) announced on Wednesday its Available Water Determinations (AWD) for surface water users in the Lachlan Regulated River Water Source as well as groundwater sources for the Central West for the 2009/10 period commencing 1 July.
Things are certainly looking grim for areas such as Cowra, Forbes and Condobolin.
Due to minimal inflows in the Lachlan Valley there is only sufficient water to initially provide 50 per cent of entitlement for local water utilities.
Stock and domestic will initially receive 15 per cent of entitlement and high security access licences will receive an allocation of 0.1 megalitre per share unit.
The commencing allocation for general security licence holders will be zero and until resources improve, access to general security carry-over will be withheld.
The DWE said the current severe water shortage order for the Lachlan Valley will remain in place.
This means the normal water sharing rules continue to be suspended for the Lachlan Regulated River Water Source.
Allocations announced will enable water users to plan their operations over the coming year while the Department and its agency partners State Water will continue to run the river system to minimize losses and maximise water availability the best it can.
In a press release, the Department said it would continue to closely monitor the situation and make regular announcements as new resources become available.
Additional information on AWDs is available on the Department’s website www.dwe.nsw.gov.au
Alternatively, licence holders can phone their local DWE office for more information.
Situation brighter for groundwater users
An AWD has also been made for each category of access licences for the water sharing plan for the Lower Lachlan Groundwater Source.
It provides a 100 per cent allocation to local water utility and domestic and stock licence holders.
In the Lower Lachlan Groundwater Source, aquifer access licence holders such as Parkes Shire Council receive a one megalitre allocation per share unit.
Supplementary water access licence holders will receive a 0.8 megalitre allocation per share unit.
The DWE also reminded supplementary water access licence holders that supplementary water allocations in the Lower Lachlan Groundwater Source may be taken at any time and at any rate during the current water year – subject to any restrictions announced by the Minister.
The DWE indicated this week that to ensure groundwater systems in the Lachlan Valley remain healthy and productive in the long term, it is critical for the Department to balance the competing needs of the environment with those of water users.
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