NSW Water has reported that the Lake Menindee inlet was opened on April 22 and forecast inflows of 650 to 850 Gl.
Lake Wetherell is currently holding 124 Gl and Lake Pamamaroo 289 Gl; total storage volume is currently 413 Gl.
There are seven main lakes in the Menindee system in western NSW, which drain into the Darling River which enters the Murray River at Wentworth.
The lakes are owned and managed by NSW Water, but once the lakes’ volume reaches 640 Gl the Murray-Darling Basin Authority steps in to manage the storage on behalf of South Australia, Victoria and NSW, who use the water to support entitlements in the Murray River.
The Menindee Lakes storage is operated under the Murray-Darling Basin Agreement, which requires the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to include the water held within the lakes as part of the shared resource of the River Murray System, and use the water in the lake when it's above 640 Gl until it falls below 480 Gl.
Once the storage volume within the lakes is less than 480 Gl, the water held within the lakes is no longer considered a shared resource of the River Murray System, but is managed by NSW to meet local demands. Part of this includes dead-water that cannot be released, amounting to about 125 Gl.
The more water that can be obtained under shared arrangements by Victoria, results in less water being required from upper Murray storages like Dartmouth and Hume.
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