They have been expecting it for a while now, but Birdsville residents and visitors to the area are now beginning to see water flowing in to the typically parched environment.
After significant rainfall in catchments more than 700 kilometres away around Winton two weeks ago, the Outback town in Queensland’s Channel Country knew it could expect to see floodwater eventually run down the Diamantina River.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, this water will travel through braided channels, and fill waterholes, before reaching the west of the catchment area.
“A flood, like the one we’re seeing at the moment, may travel a bit slower because the rainfall fell in the upper parts of the catchment and what that flood peak has got to do is to fill the water holes and areas on its way down before it makes its way to the lower part of the catchment,” Senior Hydrologist Andrew Preece told the ABC. “So those floodwaters making their way down from the north can create really wide flood plains and it can fill off stream storages such as water holes which can obviously help in relation to livestock.”
One resident Jess O’Dea told the ABC that locals were already excited by the water they are seeing.
“It’s amazing to see the contrast just in 24 hours — of a bone-dry riverbed to it flowing quite significantly,” she said.
Diamantina Mayor Geoff Morton said the flood peak is not expected until some time over the next two weeks.
“The water that’s coming past Birdsville at the moment is the local rainwater from the upstream area of Diamantina Shire,” he said. “It’s of little consequence, whereas the next one will be a huge impact to the area, not only for the graziers but for the tourist industry.”
