As the drought shows little signs of breaking, the comparatively large amount of water remaining in Wyangala dam allows for measures to extend water supply well into next year.
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The volume of water in Wyangala dam offers WaterNSW a range of drought contingency measures to extend dam water supply to Lachlan Valley communities.
With Wyangala Dam storage at 20% of capacity - compared to Burrendong at 4.1% - there remains flexibility to make significant water savings by implementing operational changes no longer possible in other drought-impacted valleys.
All major towns in the Lachlan Valley potentially have access to alternative supply sources and WaterNSW is working closely with local councils to extend supply from the dam to give communities ample time to ensure standby supply is ready.
Operational changes and other drought measures already ensure that supply is guaranteed until at least June 2020, even under a continuation of extreme drought, and further operational changes would extend that date to October 2020.
Options such as deferred delivery of stock and domestic supply and efficient delivery of allocations and basic landholder rights means town water can currently be supplied entirely with dam water beyond mid-2020 even with zero inflows.
Carryover has already been reduced to 57% availability and flows into regulated Willandra Creek will be cut in December to reduce transmission losses.
WaterNSW met with various councils in the Lachlan valley last week on Thursday, October 17, and will participate in a NSW Government drought information session in Condobolin on Tuesday, 29 October 29.
WaterNSW will also consult with its local River Operations Stakeholder Consultative Committee on October 29 regarding options to further extend water availability for critical needs with minimal impact on local and regional economic activities.
The NSW Government has announced $659 million to raise Wyangala dam wall by 10 metres from 85 metres to 95 metres and increase its capacity by 650 Gigalitres.
In 2018-19 inflows in the Lachlan system totalled 107 gigalitres (GL), well below the long- term annual average of 1,212 GL, but at least double that of drought-affected northern valleys.
For information on WaterNSW drought operations visit https://www.waternsw.com.au/supply/drought-information
