A water sharing plan that sees water shared between Windamere and Burrendong Dam has come under fresh scrutiny as Burrendong Dam levels exceed 100 per cent capacity.
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Former councillor, Russell Holden who has long beat the drum for a better water sharing plan said there needs to be a 'common sense' approach to a new agreement and discussions that aren't subject to the pressure of drought and better communication from Water NSW.
The last time Windamere Dam was this full was in September 2016 according to data from Water NSW. As of November 25 it is at 38 per cent capacity. Water is released from Windamere Dam to Burrendong as 'environmental water' which aims to replicate natural water flows from before the dam was built.
"This business of the water going out as soon as it comes in, is just absolute rubbish... what they're trying to replicate is - it floods as it is at the moment," Russell said.
"Come July next year that [water sharing] program, after all my lobbying, and with the support of Council, stops. So there has to be some science behind the whys and wherefores that they actually release the water."
The Mudgee Guardian understands a new water sharing plan is to be implemented from July 2022 that will see a group of community members and stakeholders discuss when water will release at their discretion, hopefully avoiding the issues seen in the last month.
In October, 89 Gigalitres (GL) were let out of Burrendong Dam and so far in November, 2.35GL has been released from Windamere from 6.32GL of inflow. As of November 25, Burrendong Dam sits at 126 per cent capacity and question being asked is why water is continuing to come out of Windamere when Burrendong is so full?
The Mudgee Guardian contacted Water NSW for comment. A spokesperson simply reiterated the water sharing rules that Windamere Dam is privy to.
"The environmental flow rules for the Cudgegong River in the 2016 Water Sharing Plan establish the translucency rules for releases from Windamere Dam," they said.
"The rules require that when rainfall in the catchment produces inflows to Windamere Dam, a proportion of the water flowing into the dam is released to the river as environmental flow."
The spokesperson did confirm that releases were significantly reduced recently from 400 megalitres (ML) down to 200ML on November 17 and again to 150ML on November 18.
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