The gates of Jindabyne Dam in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains have been opened, sending thousands of megalitres of water down the Snowy River.

The historic release started last week, with 84 gigalitres to be sent down the river over 19 days.

The flows reached their peak at 10:00am with the opening of the gates of Jindabyne Dam.

About 12,000 megalitres will now flow through the waterway each day until Wednesday.

It is the largest active release of water since the completion of the hydro-electric scheme in the 1950s.

Authorities expect the river will rise by up to 3.6 metres, but it is not expected to break its banks.

Snowy River Alliance chairman John Gallard says the gate opening has been a great success.

“There is a great wall of water going down the spillway. They opened up the diffuser nozzles which added to the spectacle,” he said.

“There is now a full river bed below Jindabyne Dam heading down towards Dalgety. We have a full river bed for the first time since 1976.”

Mr Gallard says the flows will drastically improve the health of the river.

“The silt has been cemented into place, it is like a cement in the gravel beds underneath the river and it’s about 1 metre thick in places,” he said.

“This flow will lift some of that silt and get the gravel moving again in the bed of the river.

“The Snowy used to be a clean healthy river with beautiful river gravel beds and sand bars.

“Eventually it will take that form again, but we have to get this hard cemented bed of the river moving. That’s what this flow is going to achieve.”

Mr Gallard says people have been campaigning since the mid-1970s to have environmental flows restored.

“It’s been a long process, and it’s due to the persistent of the Snowy community bringing about pressure on the New South Wales Government to get this sort of activity going,” he said.

Mr Gallard says the release is a good first step to restoring the river system.

“It is half of what we should be getting. Eventually our objectives are 28 per cent environmental flows,” he said.

“This is the minimum flow recommended by science to keep the river in a relatively healthy condition. Anything less that that, the river will still be in trouble.”

The peak flows will not reach the town of Dalgety until at least tomorrow.

But property owner Vickii Wallace says the river is already flowing at pre-dam levels.

“Words can’t describe the change. I’d say it’s about 150 metres wide now, and it used to be maybe 20 – 30 metres,” she said.

“I was absolutely gobsmacked. I’d say ‘get out the ark’. It’s already almost up to the carpark just under the bridge.”

Ms Wallace says the release is a boost for the whole community .

“There were these two lovely little canoeists who had stuck in their canoe at the top of Jindabyne and they’d come out at Dalgety. They weren’t locals,” she said.

“There is a prime example of how water in the river can actually transform places like Dalgety because we would have opportunities for tourism.”

The project is part of an agreement between the New South Wales, Victorian and Commonwealth governments to improve the health of the river by scouring sediment.

Article and photo by Acacia Rose

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-10/snowy-flows-continue/3458014?section=act