Struggling Outback communities in far west New South Wales are hoping that now that water is finally flowing back into the area’s most iconic lakes, so too will grey nomads flow back into their tourist-starved region.
For the first time in two years, authorities have opened the gates into Lake Menindee, allowing hundreds of gigalitres of water into the formerly dry storage. For the communities of Menindee and Sunset Strip, which have been doing it seriously tough since the Menindee Lakes system mostly dried up, it hasn’t come a moment too soon.
Ross Leddra, who owns a property at Sunset Strip overlooking the lake, told the ABC many locals were reaching the end of their tether.
“Those people from motels, hotels, the corner deli, the supermarket, the whole caravan parks, the whole lot, they’ve basically stopped earning,” he said. “Geez, they couldn’t go any lower … so this has probably saved a few of those that have hung in there.”
Another local, Barry Stone, told the ABC that the return of water to the Menindee Lakes would breathe new life into the area.
“Once this lake’s full again, it’ll be full-on again,” he said. “People will be coming back, the tourists will be around, and the community will survive.”
According to the ABC, Lake Menindee is part of the system that supplies Broken Hill with drinking water, and is connected to the Darling River. Flooding and heavy rain elsewhere in the Murray-Darling Basin have forced authorities to start releases into Lake Menindee.
“I think a long-awaited milestone, as far as water security in the region, has been reached, and I think that’s a real high point for the local community and everybody involved,” WaterNSW spokesman Tony Webber said. “Those numbers have been done, and the theory is there’s certainly going to be sufficient water there to start stocking Lake Menindee,”
WaterNSW said more than 500 gigalitres had flowed into the system, with a further 600 to 700 gigalitres expected to reach the lakes in coming weeks and months. Lake Menindee could be full by the end of the year.
Love Menindee Lakes, will be even better with water in them.