Higher releases from Hume Dam with more rain on the way

Published: 2 October 2016

People in the area downstream of Hume Dam are advised to continue monitoring local flood warnings as releases from Hume Dam increase and further rain is forecast over the coming days.

The MDBA's acting head of River Management, Andrew Reynolds, said the extent of flood risk continues to increase.

"Hume Dam is now at about 98% capacity. Water continues to flow into the dam from last week's rain and the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has forecast significant rainfall in the catchment late today and into Tuesday," Mr Reynolds said.

"The volume of water released from the dam into the Murray River climbed to 60,000 megalitres per day (ML/day) over the past two days, and this morning reached 70,000 ML/day.

"Higher releases are possible in coming days, in anticipation of higher inflows. The rate of release will depend on how much rain falls. Given the dam is almost full, we expect rain upstream to pass downstream through the dam quite quickly.

"I strongly encourage people downstream of Hume Dam to regularly check the BoM website for the latest flood warnings and information on stream levels.

"People near the river, including at Albury and Wodonga, should contact the SES on 132500 if they need emergency assistance.

For more information on flood management:

ENDS

For more information, contact the MDBA Media office at media@mdba.gov.au or 02 6279 0141

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