Welcome Rain Heading for the Murray’s Big Catchments

After a dry run across much of the Murray system, this week’s forecast rain over the southern catchments is something worth watching. Rain is expected across parts of the high country and inland Victoria over coming days, including around the big storages that feed into the wider Murray system. That includes Dartmouth Dam, Hume Dam, Lake Eildon and Lake Eppalock. For those of us in Mildura and Sunraysia, it can be easy to forget just how much of the water story begins a long way upstream. Rain that falls around these dams and catchments does not simply turn up here overnight, and not every drop ends up flowing past Mildura, but it is all part of the bigger river system we rely on. And right now, those storages could certainly use it. Hume Dam is sitting at just under 35 percent, Lake Eppalock is a little over 34 percent, Lake Eildon is just over 43 percent, and Dartmouth Dam, while healthier than the others, is still only around 67 percent full. Across the broader Goulburn Murray Water storages, the system is sitting at just under half full. 

 So when the forecast starts showing several days of rain across those southern catchments, it is welcome news. It is not a magic fix, and it is a long way from filling the dams, but it is a good start. What the system really needs is follow up rain, steady winter falls, and catchments that become wet enough to generate proper runoff. One wet week can freshen things up, but filling major storages takes time, repeated weather systems and a lot of water moving through the hills, creeks and rivers. Still, after watching storage levels slide, this is the sort of forecast farmers, river communities, fishos, irrigators and anyone who loves the Murray will be pleased to see. The Murray River at Mildura is the end result of a massive connected system. Dartmouth and Hume are directly tied to the upper Murray, while Eildon and Eppalock feed rivers that eventually join the Murray further downstream. That is why rain falling hundreds of kilometres away still matters here. It may not fill the dams. It may not change the river overnight. But after a dry spell and low storage levels, this week’s expected rain over the catchments is a very welcome start.