State Water has embarked on the water savings projects in Murrumbidgee River in order to make the most of every drop of water that we have and particularly this project will reduce the evapo transpiration losses due to surplus flows into Old Mans Creek and maintaining flows in Murrumbidgee River and providing alternative strategies to meet the demand.
Old Man Creek (OMC) is a tributary of the Murrumbidgee River, situated west of Wagga Wagga NSW. Together with Beavers Creek it forms an anabranch system returning to the river upstream of Narranderra.
At present, the Beavers Creek weir is controlling the flows into the OMC system. Flows of up to 10,000 ML/d are controlled by this weir. Flows above this amount carry over the fixed crest weir and flow along the system.
The project proposes to construct a new weir on a by-pass adjoining to the existing Beavers Weir. The new weir will be fitted with gates for better regulated water flow and a fish way to help fish migration up the river. The infrastructure improvements will better control flows into Old Man Creek from the Murrumbidgee River.
The upgrade is expected to regulate up to 20,000ML of water a day, reducing erosion and losses and ensuring water delivery continues to meet demand while maintaining the community's environmental assets.
Project Benefits
- Better efficiency of water supply to irrigators
- More effective delivery of regulated flows
- Reduction of scouring of the creek bed and better management of debris along the creek
- New fish way for fish species migrating up-river
- Potential water savings of up to 2.2 GL/year
For further information on Old Man Creek, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions
