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- Wimmera floods rolling coverage
- The worst is still to come
- Glenorchy residents prepre for river to peak
- Lake Wallace fills
- Weir open along the Wimmera River
- Halls Gap roads reopen
- Crops fall after heavy rain
- Wimmera floods: your photos
- Residents trapped at Wartook, Green Lake
- Murtoa residents help save house
- View from above: drone captures floods
RECREATIONAL lakes have continued to benefit from heavy rain in the region.
See how the Wimmera’s lake are tracking below.
Lake Hindmarsh
WIMMERA Catchment Management Authority chief executive David Brennan said flood water in the Wimmera River would continue to flow through Dimboola to Lake Hindmarsh.
“In the past few weeks, there has been water running into the mouth of Lake Hindmarsh and we expect that to continue over the next fortnight,” he said.
“There is starting to be a significant amount of water in the lake and it’s turning into the wetland it used to be.”
Mr Brennan said it would be great for the community if the lake filled.
“It’s a really important spot for tourism and recreational activities,” he said.
“It’s not only Victoria’s largest freshwater wetland, it is also the lake that needs to be full before water can go to Lake Albacutya.”
Lake Wallace
EDENHOPE’S Lake Wallace is now about two-metres deep after years of drought.
Friends of Lake Wallace president Andrew Farran said the lake was so important to the community.
“Anyone who used to wonder about the importance of water for Lake Wallace would be blown away by the number of people just driving around and looking,” he said.
“After such a long drought, it has transformed the town’s health already, with people talking with hope about Edenhope.
“The rains have livened the town up – everyone is talking about the water rather than their problems.
“Lake Wallace is very important environmentally as well, with all its migratory waterbirds that rely on the lake for shallower seasonal wetlands when it dries over spring and summer.
“By Friday the water will have covered the proposed extension to the boat ramp and made it to the actual one.
“It will be two metres deep with a bit more to run in.
“With another rain it might get to the jetty.”
Mr Farran said it was a shame that after the lake dried the fish died and visitors to Edenhope took their money elsewhere.
“We still pay that recreational lakes levy for other lakes, the environmental water levy and the increased water bills for the Wimmera-Mallee Pipeline,” he said.
“It will be nice if some water is piped to our lake as well, on the odd time we need it.
“Not to fill it, but to make it usable, as like we to think it is now.”
Mr Farran said the group also hoped for some good news about a boat ramp extension.
“Even though it is underwater at the moment, we fear that money will end up somewhere else,” he said.
Natimuk Lake
NATIMUK resident Maree Schmidt said Natimuk Lake was filling.
“It still needs a lot more rain but it’s a great start for the community,” she said.
“About half of the lake is covered in water so far.”
Lake Fyans
LAKE Fyans has also benefited from the rain as well.
Northern Grampians Shire councillor Jason Hosemans said Lake Fyans was about 80 per cent full and both Lake Fyans and Lake Lonsdale would provide valuable recreation opportunities during the summer.
“That is going to be amazing, there will be an awful lot of happy people around with the water in the lakes,” he said.
Rocklands and Toolondo reservoirs
GWMWATER water resources manager Andrew Barton said the wet weather meant about 20,000 megalitres should flow into the region’s storage.
He said the situation was on par with the inflows the region received last month, which was the largest in three years.
“The biggest winner will be Rocklands Reservoir, with about 10,000 megalitres flowing into there,” he said.
“We haven’t released any water from Rocklands to the Glenelg River since about June, so we’ve been able to bank water in Rocklands, which will keep Toolondo’s prospects alive.”
If Rocklands Reservoir reaches 116,000 megalitres, which is the trigger point, water can be released into Toolondo Reservoir. Rocklands was at 78,970 megalitres last Wednesday.
Dr Barton said if it kept raining, there was every chance the trigger point could be reached.
Toolondo Reservoir spokesman Trevor Holmes said the reservoir’s water level had risen about 75 millimetres in the past few days.
“There is some good water running in there and we received another 10mm on Monday night,” he said.
“We are all pretty happy at the moment, we just need to find some fish now.
“All the indicators show it will keep raining right up to Christmas.”
Green Lake
HORSHAM Incident Control Centre’s Trevor Ebbles said Taylors Lake was full and no more water would be released into it.
“We’re actually taking some out and diverting water to Pine Lake and Green Lake,” he said.
Dr Barton said water started flowing into Green Lake on Friday.
“Taylors Lake is essentially full, Wartook is full, so anything that falls in that part of the world, we want to capitalise on as much as we can and get some water into Green Lake,” he said.
Green Lake Action Group spokesman Russell Peucker said it was fantastic to see water going into the lake.
“Its looking excellent, we have good natural inflows and water being released into the lake as well,” he said.
“The whole country side is really wet.
“Wartook is virtually overflowing, with more flows predicted and there is every chance we will get a good top up into the lake.
“At this rate it should be operational for summer.”
Mr Peucker said he estimated more than a hundred megalitres was flowing into the lake each day.
“Hopefully water will continue to be released until it is full,” he said.
“The natural water will be running in for a few more days yet.
“We are finally getting water running down Bungalally and the lower Burnt Creek too.
“IT’s made the frogs very happen.”
Wimmera River
WEIRS at Horsham, Dimboola and Jeparit have been completely opened to allow as much water to flow through as possible.
Wimmera Catchment Management Authority chief executive David Brennan said all the boards had been removed from the weirs along the Wimmera River.
“We are making a lot of airspace in the river for flood waters to come down,” he said.
Mr Brennan said there had been strong rises in the upper catchment of the Wimmera River and Glenorchy.
“We’re starting to see the water flow from the upper catchment now and make its way long the river,” he said.
“Over the next few days we will see an increase in the height of the river between Glenorchy and Horsham, and then early next week that flow will continue to Dimboola and make its way to Lake Hindmarsh.”
Lake Lonsdale
DR BARTON said Lake Lonsdale was also continuing to build up.
“We are starting to get to a level where it will be usable heading into summer,” he said.
Lake Lonsdale Action Group president Ray Howard said the lake was looking good.
“Water is up to the boat ramp now, we hope to just keep getting the rain,” he said.
“The last lot of rain we had will boost it up a bit.”
Mr Howard said he hoped the lake would be operational by summer.
“There should be enough water in it for a bit of activities,” he said.
“If the yabbies get going, which we aren’t sure if they will because it’s been dry for a couple of years now, but if they do, it will boost the town.
“There will be no fish for another year or two though.”
Mr Howard said the lake should be a very popular spot for people again this summer.