Minimal flood risk, but not for long

By Friday, the river by 4m and starting to ‘flatten’, according to the SES.

Deniliquin-Conargo SES unit controller Jodie Graham said with river levels at Tocumwal already starting to drop, any rises in the Edward would only last about seven to eight days.

The McLean Beach boat ramp is already under water, and Ms Graham said other boat ramps may also be inaccessible temporarily.

Outlying farm areas will also be subject to some flooding, she said.

Ms Graham said it is very unlikely we’ll see a repeat of floods experienced late last year, where the Edward reached 9.18m and forced the evacuation of some Davidson St residents from their homes.

“We’re not going to see anything near the levels we had last year, unless there is a major (rain) event.

“We’re not expecting downpours to the same degree as this time last year, where we saw about 100mm fall in one day.

“Our hydro specialist at the Bureau of Meteorology is looking at all the data consistently.”

Ms Graham said the rising river level is the result of increased flows out of the Hume Dam, which was increased to 25,000 megalitres a day on Wednesday.

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority said the releases are to gain more airspace while storage levels remain higher than average for this time of year.

MDBA senior director river management Joe Davis said the releases are at channel capacity downstream of Hume at Doctors Point, but may be increased if rainfall and inflow forecasts strengthen.

“We are working closely with the Bureau of Meteorology to monitor forecast rainfall in the area over the coming days,” Mr Davis said.

“Releases from Hume Dam are currently targeting 25,000 megalitres per day at Doctors Point but could safely be increased to around 32,000 megalitres per day in the coming days to gain airspace ahead of predicted rainfall.”

For the latest weather, warnings, rainfall and river heights, go to www.bom.gov.au/nsw/ or www.ses.nsw.gov.au.