ABOVE average rainfall for the first half of 2020, plus increasing Murray-Darling storages, are buoying the confidence levels of Riverland and Mallee primary producers.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) recorded 47.4mm of rainfall in Renmark last month compared to 0mm for the entirety of April in 2019 – more than double the town’s average April rainfall of 18.2mm
BoM also recorded 57.4mm of rainfall in Loxton during April, compared to just 0.3mm during the same period last year.
Lameroo has seen 26.8mm of rain in May so far while also recording 46.2mm throughout April 2020, improving on the 3.8mm seen in April 2019.
For the period between January and May 2020, a total of 92.4mm of rain has been recorded in Renmark – above the January to May average of 91.3mm.
As of last week, MDBA total active storage levels – made up of Dartmouth, Hume and Lake Victoria – had reached 32 per cent.
This marked a two per cent improvement on the previous fortnight, accounting for 164 gigalitres, although total active storage remained at 35 per cent at the same stage in 2019.
Water levels have increased across most MDBA storages during the past 12 months, with Menindee Lakes currently at 23 per cent capacity compared to 1 per cent in May 2019, Lake Victoria at 43 per cent compared with 30 per cent, and Hume Reservoir at 20 per cent compared to 15 per cent.
However, storage levels for Dartmouth Dam have decreased from 64 per cent in May 2019 and currently sit at 50 per cent.
Flows into South Australia have averaged around 2800 megalitres per day for the period between Wednesday, May 13 and Wednesday, May 20.