River flows prompt record opening of barrage bays

For the first time in decades, more than 570 operational barrage bays at the mouth of the River Murray have been opened as a result of significant water flows down the river system.

Constructed in the 1940s, the network of five barrages at Goolwa, Mundoo, Boundary Creek, Ewe Island and Tauwitchere are used to facilitate water flows down the river and stop highly saline seawater from flowing upstream into the Lower Lakes.

On behalf of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, SA Water operates the network of barrages, along with Locks One to Nine spread across South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.

SA Water’s Senior Manager of River Murray Operations Garry Fyfe said crews have progressively worked over recent weeks to manually and safely open each gate.

“How we operate the barrages depends on carefully balancing the water flowing downstream and how this compares to the tidal readings at the Murray Mouth, and this includes checking water levels at least three times each day,” Garry said.

“With ocean tides often higher than the water level in Lake Alexandrina, it’s common for us to keep the barrage gates closed when required to stop seawater from flowing upstream.

“However, the significant increase in water currently flowing down the River Murray has seen us gradually opening all of the operational 576 gates across the five barrages, to maximise the amount of water released out to sea.

“For context, the last time we saw such a significant number of bays open at the barrages was at the break of the Millennium Drought in 2010-11, with around 400 opened throughout that high flow event.

“Opening the barrage gates has been a sizeable task for our team, with each of the 1.5-tonne concrete stop logs needing to be manually removed using on-site machinery over many weeks.

“We continue to manage our barrage operations at the direction of the Department for Environment and Water, along with using flow monitoring and advanced wind and weather forecasts, and ensure we adjust our barrage operations as required.”

Visitors can safely take a look at the barrages in action from the public access area at Goolwa, with more information on opening hours, as well as further information for SA Water customers about the utility’s response to the River Murray flood event, available at sawater.com.au

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