The council's technical director John Martin said the body was making sure there was room for water coming down the river from the upper catchment in the Pyrenees.

"We're just making sure there's room for that so the river level doesn't get too high, and with plenty of winter still to come the levels will come up to a normal level when it's clear we're not going to have too much of a flow," he said.

"It doesn't take a lot of rain now to keep the river flowing, so we'll just let the river build back up to its normal level, over the next few weeks. If we get a lot more rain we'll need to make room again."

Mr Martin said at midday on Monday, the river's water level at the weir was 1.3 metres, compared to 1.5 before the water release.

Horsham has received 28 milimetres of rain since Thursday, more than half the long-term average for August. In the same time Stawell has received 36 milimetres, Nhill 38 and Ararat 62.

Wimmera Catchment Management Authority chief executive David Brennan said the rain last week caused a spike in flood gauges in the upper catchment.

"There are some good natural flows, and the ground is getting close to reaching that full saturation point where every drop of water is starting to end up in a creek, a river or a wetland," he said.

"What we're seeing is Concongella Creek near Stawell, Fyans Creek and Mount William Creek near the Grampians with some natural flows in them, and we've even had reports of some other creeks with water right across the broader region.

"It's certainly not flood conditions, but it's worth being mindful in your activities around the waterways at the moment these creeks are at full capacity, so if we do start to get some more big rain events in short periods of time those creeks will respond accordingly."

The Wimmera CMA is authorised to supply sufficient volumes of water to specific rivers and creeks in the region.

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