According to Goulburn-Murray Water’s latest storage update, Hume Dam, Dartmouth Dam and Lake Eppalock are all now sitting higher than they were at the same time last year, while Lake Eildon is the one major storage still lagging behind.
Hume Dam is now sitting at 47.10 per cent, compared with 41.37 per cent at the same time last year. That puts it 5.73 percentage points ahead of last year, which is a handy turnaround after the lower levels we were looking at earlier in winter.
Dartmouth Dam is also slightly better than last year, now at 69.45 per cent, compared with 66.72 per cent at the same time last year. That puts Dartmouth 2.73 percentage points ahead.
Dartmouth is still the strongest of the four storages by percentage, but because it is such a large storage, it does not jump around as quickly as some of the smaller systems. Even so, being ahead of last year is a good sign for the broader Murray picture.
Over in the Goulburn system, Lake Eppalock has had a strong run. It is now sitting at 61.23 per cent, compared with 55.79 per cent this time last year. That puts it 5.44 percentage points ahead.
That is a decent improvement, and while Eppalock is not on the Murray itself, water from the Campaspe and Goulburn systems can eventually make its way through to the Murray, so it is still worth keeping an eye on from a Sunraysia point of view.
Lake Eildon is the one still behind last year. It is now sitting at 48.47 per cent, compared with 57.86 per cent at the same time last year. That means Eildon is still 9.39 percentage points lower than where it was twelve months ago.
So the overall picture is better, but not perfect.
Hume is up on last year. Dartmouth is up on last year. Eppalock is up on last year. Eildon still has some catching up to do.
For Mildura, Merbein, Red Cliffs, Wentworth and the wider Sunraysia region, these numbers are important because they help shape the water outlook as winter rolls on. The recent rain has clearly started to show up in the storages, and that is the sort of movement farmers, irrigators and river users will be pleased to see.
But the allocation side of things is still a waiting game. Sunraysia’s Murray high reliability allocation started at 29 per cent, which is very much an “it is what it is” number at this stage. Farmers will be hoping these rising storage levels continue and eventually flow through to stronger allocation announcements as the season progresses.
There is still a long way to go, especially with Eildon sitting well behind last year, but compared with where things were only a short time ago, the latest figures are certainly looking more positive.
The catchments have had a drink, the storages are moving, and most of the key systems we watch are now sitting ahead of this time last year.