With severe drought conditions impacting several regions and water storages in New South Wales, WaterNSW will begin a bulk water transfer from Split Rock Dam to Keepit Dam between October and December 2018 to meet customer demand.
The bulk water transfer is necessary to meet customer water demand in the Lower Namoi Valley downstream of Keepit Dam.
Under the scheduled release, a maximum of 34,900ML will be transferred from Split Rock Dam to Keepit Dam. Scheduled releases will range from 100ML per day to 1900ML per day with peak releases occurring from 25-28 October 2018.
Split Rock Dam is currently at 13.4 per cent of capacity and Keepit Dam is 10.6 per cent.
Weather conditions will be closely monitored throughout the process to ensure that any changes in demand due to rainfall are factored into future releases during the bulk water transfer.
“Water in both Split Rock and Keepit dams has been allocated for both Upper Namoi users and the Lower Namoi users,” said Adrian Langdon, WaterNSW Executive Manager System Operation and Asset Maintenance.
“The severe drought conditions across NSW have impacted on all water storages, including Split Rock and Keepit dams. To satisfy the anticipated demand this summer, we have to transfer water from Split Rock Dam to Keepit Dam to fill those orders.”