Boat travel boom sees SA Murray lock visits soar

Almost 7,000 dinghies, kayaks and houseboats passed through SA Water’s network of locks and weirs along the River Murray in 2021, marking the second highest total of lock visitors recorded in 15 years.

The whopping 6,981 lockages facilitated by the utility’s River Murray Operations team is the largest visitation numbers since 2013 and is around 1200 lockages more than what passed through the network in 2020.

On behalf of the Murray Darling Basin Authority, SA Water manages Locks One to Six in South Australia as well as Lock Seven at Rufus River and Lock Eight at Wangumma in New South Wales, and Lock Nine at Kulnine in Victoria. The utility also operates barrages at Goolwa, Mundoo, Boundary Creek, Ewe Island and Tauwitchere.

SA Water’s Senior Manager of River Murray Operations Garry Fyfe said the numbers demonstrate a growing increase of river traffic over recent years.

“We know the impacts of COVID-19 have provided its challenges for keen boaties travelling around South Australia and from the other river states, but as these gradually eased in 2021, we saw our lockage numbers significantly increase,” Garry said.

“Our team of lockies believe this is likely due to a resurgence in local holiday makers, as both domestic and international border closures led to more South Australians packing the boat and visiting the Murray instead.

“Of our nine locks stationed along the River Murray, Lock Six at Murtho can claim the mantle of the most visited site for last year, with the 728 vessels recorded for the calendar year surging well past the 400 lockages recorded in 2020.

“Our interstate locks in Victoria and New South Wales also returned to numbers seen before the onset of COVID-19, following the reduced traffic from the year before, and we expect these numbers to grow even further next year with the anticipated growth in travellers from across the border.”

The Goolwa Barrage, located at the end of the River Murray system, once again recorded the largest overall vessel number for the year with a total of 2,513 lock visits.

“We’re proud of our dedicated team who work every day to assist boaties on their river travels and explain the rich history of the Murray, and we thank everyone for continuing to visit our locks in a safe way,” Garry said.

For more information on the SA Water-managed network of locks and weirs or advice for River Murray users travelling through the locks, visit sawater.com.au.

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