The NSW State Emergency Service is predicting the river may exceed the minor flood level of 5.50 metres early next week.
It forecasts that it may reach 6.60m by mid August.
At the time of going to print yesterday, the Murrumbidgee River at Darlington Point was at 4.54 metres and rising.
As the river continues to creep up to minor flood level, the SES predicts there will be inundation of rural floodplains, water may impact Sturt Highway at Tubbo (east of Darlington Point) and the camping area of Darlington Point Caravan Park.
The upper Murray is also in flood as a result of the recent rainfall.
To maintain water levels and increase airspace, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority increased the release of water from the Hume Dam from the end of last week.
Both Hume Dam, and the upstream storage Dartmouth Dam, have increased by about one per cent following this latest weather event, with inflows into both storages continuing.
MDBA executive director of river management Andrew Reynolds said those releases will continue this week.
“The Hume releases, combined with Kiewa River inflows entering downstream of the Dam, means we expect to see flows exceed channel capacity at Doctor’s Point in coming days,” he said.
“We anticipate flows will remain at levels that do not have significant impact on downstream landholders and will remain well below minor flood level.
“If you haven’t already, please sign up to Water New South Wales’ Early Warning Network to be notified by SMS, email or landline about dam activities during periods of flooding or high releases.
“Every day we evaluate conditions based on Bureau of Meteorology data, inflow data, predicted inflows and historical records to determine how to best manage the dam.”
The community is being asked to monitor the latest weather forecasts and warnings and be ready to move to higher ground should flooding develop.
The current advice for farmers is to move livestock and equipment away from flood-prone paddocks.
The MDBA says there are three things you can do to be prepared for potential floods:
Develop your personalised flood emergency plan for your home and property by going to the State Emergency Service website for your state — www.ses.nsw.gov.au or
www.ses.vic.gov.au/plan-and-stay-safe.
Sign up, or check your details are up to date, for WaterNSW’s Early Warning Network to be notified by SMS, email or landline about dam activities during periods of flooding or high releases — www.waternsw.com.au/supply/ewn.
Check the Bureau of Meteorology to receive the latest weather information including warnings, river conditions and rainfall in your area by going to www.bom.gov.au/australia/warnings or www.bom.gov.au/australia/flood.
The Bureau of Meteorology's outlook for August to October 2022 indicates wetter than average conditions are likely to continue across much of Australia.
For emergency help in floods and storms, call the NSW State Emergency Service on 132 500. In life threatening situations call triple zero (000) immediately.
23°C