Water Week - Snowy Mountains unprecedented dry inflow sequence started in 1996-97 |
First 7 of 7 paragraphs shown In the past 12 years there has been only one year of slightly above average inflows reported Andrew Nolan Manager, Water for Snowy Hydro, in March 2010. Worse than imagined: Nolan said “the current 12-year drought sequence is worse than what the Snowy Scheme was ever intended to cope with”. Dream-run, long-gone: The historical records of annual inflows into the Snowy Scheme, from 1905, are characterised by high variability with annual inflows ranging from less than 700 gigalitres to well over 5500 gigalitres. Climate change a costly affair: The now unprecedented dry inflow sequence that started in 1996-97 shows that in the past 12 years there has been only one year of slightly above average inflows’. Still dry after all these years: ‘The water year of 2006-07 saw the lowest ever recorded inflows - 683 gigalitres compared to the long term average annual inflows of around 2800 gigalitres. For the 2008-09 water year the inflows were still very much below average with 1821 gigalitre inflows’. . ...Log in to read rest of Article or image. |