Warragamba Dam will start spilling by around 6.30am Sunday for 2 weeks says WaterNSW

Avon, Cordeaux, Nepean and Woronora dams are already spilling says WaterNSW this evening, and they say Warragamba is set to start spilling from Sunday early morning and continue spilling for 2 weeks.

Events are moving very quickly – late Friday evening, WaterNSW said Warragamba would likely spill from Sunday afternoon, so inflows into the dam must be increasing swiftly for them to now change that – at 12.45am – to a spill starting by tomorrow early morning.

The spill will be comparable, says WaterNSW, with the spill event in March this year, which is when we last saw a major flood in the Hawkesbury.

WaterNSW says it is monitoring its major supply dams across Greater Sydney as some dams begin spilling as a result of inflows due to the significant rainfall forecast for coming days.

Greater Sydney’s total dam storage has risen to 96.6% of capacity, with Warragamba Dam at 97.4% late this evening.

“Downstream impacts will ultimately be a combination of the spill volume combined with downstream tributary flows,” says WaterNSW in a classic case of the obvious.

WaterNSW has set up a dedicated incident team to manage the event and is working closely with BOM and the NSW State Emergency Service to monitor weather and inflows.

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