Keepit Dam will make its first water release in more than a year after "substantial rain" has increased the level.
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From Monday, March 16, WaterNSW will commence a small release (approximately 100 megalitres) for urgent stock and domestic supply for landholders located between the dam and the junction of the Peel and Namoi Rivers.
Releases will initially begin at a rate of 70 megalitres per day before being reduced, with the full release event scheduled to take place over approximately three days.
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WaterNSW executive manager system operations Adrian Langdon said landholders at this junction hadn't received flows from the February rainfall.
"These releases will assist with refreshing and replenishing river pools and will provide welcome stock and domestic water from the first releases out of this dam in many months," Mr Langdon said.
"These river pools are in poor condition, so there is a risk of adverse environmental outcomes including fishkills, but advice from relevant agencies has been incorporated into the decision process."
The dam has been all but dry since the summer of 2018-19 due to chronically low catchment rainfall and a near total absence of inflows.
On Monday, Keepit Dam was at 12.5 per cent of storage capacity, after being less than 1 per cent throughout 2019.
The NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment's NSW Extreme Events Policy's drought stage criticality has also been lowered thanks to the increased storage in Keepit and Split Rock dams.
