River Reaches Levels Not Seen Since 1990

The Lachlan River at Cowra reached its highest level since 1990 on Sunday after a period of extended rainfall last week caused Wyangala Dam to increase to over 104%.

It is the first time since 2016 the Lachlan River has been in flood, with the river reaching a maximum height of 12.64 metres in Cowra around midnight on Sunday morning.

This is likely to be the highest the river has been since August 1990, with the Bureau of Meteorology reporting the river height at Nanami, near Eugowra, was lower than the 1990 peak.

“The Lachlan River at Cowra is currently at 11.40 metres and falling with moderate flooding,” the BOM said in a media release on Monday.

“The Lachlan River at Nanami is likely to peak near 12.40 metres Tuesday morning with major flooding. This level is higher than the September 2016 flood peak, but lower than the August 1990 flood peak.”

While the flooding didn’t reach Taragala Street as some locals told The Cowra Phoenix it did back in 1990, it wasn’t too far away this time around, with the entire carpark and road of River Park, all of Bryants Park, the dog park, and Tom Raudonikis Oval all going under.

While there have been no reports of major property damage in Cowra, there have been a number of road closures around the shire that have inconvenienced some locals.

At the time of writing on Monday main road closures included the Lachlan Valley Way to Gooloogong and Forbes (detour via Grenfell), the Lachlan Valley Way to Morongla and Boorowa (with a detour via Wattamondara), and Darbys Falls Road to Darbys Falls and Wyangala Village and Dam (detour via Woodstock). The river at Cowra had dropped to 11.40 metres on Monday, and with the heaviest of the rainfall having passed, was expected to continue dropping, however the Cowra SES Unit reminded locals to remain vigilant.

“This doesn’t mean Cowra is back to normal, there is still a lot of water around that is covering roads and these roads are closed and may remain so for a few more days,” it said on its Facebook page.

“Don’t take the risk of driving through flood water, your life is worth too much and think about your family. If you can’t take the usual road to get somewhere take an alternative road and allow for that extra travel time.”

• Topics:
• Weather
• Flooding