What effect would the Shoalhaven Transfer scheme have on our dam levels? A scheme has been announced in which flows from the Shoalhaven Scheme to Sydney would be increased. The basic idea is that the Shoalhaven catchment is rather large and close to the coast (hence inflows are large) and Tallowa Dam often overflows, even under drought conditions (link provides graphs and stats on Tallowa Dam). If this had been in place and operating since November 2001, a significant difference in our dam levels would be noticeable, as the following data indicate. We also examine the combination of such a scheme and a 500ML/day desalination plant. Note that we have estimated the effect of the stage 1 and 2 Shoalhaven scheme by 80,110 GL/year respectively. The actual net gain of water in Sydney's dams is much harder to calculate as it concerns the amount of water which currently overflows from Tallowa that would otherwise have been captured. As noted above, in the past few years of drought conditions, Tallowa has still often overflowed and hence this scheme would have helped in this drought. Hypothetical since 11.2001 Available water (GL) % full all dams 1year change GL(%) As is 1739.5 67.31 725.50 (28.07) Stage 1 2269.7 87.83 805.22 (31.16) Stage 2 2468.22 95.51 835.06 (32.31) Stage 2 + desal 2584.3 100.00 0.00 (0.00) If Stage 2 of the Shoalhaven transfer scheme were in place in late 2001, as well as a 500 ML/day desalination plant (both in full use) then the dams would be sufficiently full that there would be not even a thought of a dam level problem. Even without a desalination plant, this proposed scheme would have had a big impact on our dam levels. Sydney dam levels main page This month dam level statistics Rainfall this week Trends of Sydney dam levels Usage and Inflow trends Firefox Extension (SydDams) Interactive Catchment Map Dam levels for individual dams Sydney Desalination plant impact on dam levels Reduced Usage impact on dam levels How to save water in Sydney Rainwater tanks in Sydney Sydney's water restrictions General Information on Warragamba and Sydney's other Dams Home irrigation/watering systems in Sydney Old location of Sydney dam levels page Back to iliveinsydney.com Comments by visitors: Email webmaster@iliveinsydney.com to contact the webmaster. I-live-in-sydney.com's subsite on Sydney's water is relevant to people interested in conserving water, rainwater tanks, irrigation, plumbing and plumbers. It can also be of interest to people examining water quality and filtering.