Inter-valley trade from NSW to Victoria could be restricted if a declaration of spill is announced when 50% or more water held in Victoria Murray spillable water accounts is spilt.
The Hume Dam is effectively full, reaching 99% capacity during the week and is currently at 98.4%. If a spill event is declared in the Murray region, it will be the first spill since the 2017-18 water season where approximately 33% of water was spilt.
Since early August, releases from the Hume dam have totalled approximately 150GL in an effort to keep the dam safe, capturing and storing water, and mitigating floods. This spilt water will go toward paying back water accounts such as the Barmah-Millewa Forest Environmental account.
If the volume released is large enough it may cause deductions from spillable water accounts, affecting water license holders. A spill event will affect the near 95 GL of water held in Victorian spill accounts across the River Murray.
Deductions from spillable water accountswill be determined in early October and announced in the October 15 seasonal assessment.
Read the MDBA media release here
Read more about the risk of spill on the Northern Victoria Resource Manager website
