Weirs near Mildura back in operation

Murray-Darling Basin Authority River Management head David Dreverman said it was important to return the amenity of well-managed weir pools.

“We are grateful to local communities for their patience while work is under way to have the locks and weirs functioning again for the summer,” he said.

“This infrastructure brings great economic benefit to many communities by enabling navigation the length of the river, tourism and recreation, and access to irrigation water.

“Re-installing the weirs is safe and relatively quick, thanks to significant investment by basin governments over the last decade to improve flood operations.”

The MDBA removed the weirs in October to safely allow floodwaters to pass unencumbered.

The Euston weir (lock 15) was successfully reinstated last week.

Work at the Wentworth weir (lock 10) will start on December 14.

Passage through the lock will be unavailable for up to one week while staff are reinstating the weir, but passage by appointment may be possible by contacting lock staff 03 5027 3190.

Mr Dreverman said the weir at Mildura (lock 11) was expected to be reinstated in the week beginning December 19 in a process likely to take between two and five days.

It would be about another seven days before the weir pool returned to full supply level.

“At Mildura the river needs to fall to about 1.5 metres below the full supply level before we can start reinstating the weir, which might temporarily affect some people’s access to water or require adjustments to boat moorings,” Mr Dreverman said.

“Lock 11 will re-open to river traffic during the period of refilling the weir pool.

“At this time, boats and other river craft will still be able to navigate the river with care upstream and downstream of the lock, but we advise water skiers and other recreational river users to be wary of logs and obstacles close to the surface.

“Timing the reinstatement of the weirs depends on how quickly the river recedes. As it happens, we expect flows at Mildura to fall to a critical point that coincides with Christmas.

“Waiting until after Christmas would have risked low flows at Mildura impacting on the local tourism industry and irrigators’ access to water. To take action earlier, when river levels were higher, would have risked the integrity of the weir structure and safety of the operators.

“Management of the weirs is coordinated by the MDBA in cooperation with Goulburn-Murray Water, WaterNSW and SA Water.”