Further water releases from the Snowy Hydro and the Tumut River channel already at capacity have farmers downstream concerned, one saying there should have been better planning before now.
Kevin Malone's family has farmed on the verdant banks of the Tumut River in southern New South Wales for 170 years, but he is deeply concerned that legacy is at risk due to the current management of the waterway.
Blowering has almost reached full capacity due to recent heavy rain, but in order for Snowy Hydro to make power out of Tumut 3 Power Station it has to pump water that ends up in the reservoir. "It is possible Blowering Reservoir will fill and spill, potentially exceeding the Tumut River channel capacity," Snowy Hydro said."There is potential for the inundation of low-level causeways and water breaking out of the river channel onto agricultural land adjacent to the river.""If they're going to increase the flows out of Blowering Dam we're going to get flooded.
There was minor spill out of the dam last year following months of rain in the region but in 2010 there was extensive flooding following dam releases, which is what Mr Malone fears will happen again."We'll be severely impacted trying to run our dairy cows to pasture and to try and access feed that we have located on our flats. There's going to be huge pasture derogation, fencing issues," he said.
The forecast fluctuations in the river's levels coincides with the imminent start of the new irrigation season — when water is released from the dam to help water crops in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area in the state's south-west.
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