By Jess Baker
The Southern Downs region has experienced an unusually wet few weeks, causing Leslie Dam near Warwick to rise to its highest capacity in seven years.
On Wednesday 14 July, Leslie Dam was at 47 percent capacity.
A Sunwater spokesperson said recent rainfall saw Leslie Dam rise to a level not reached since February 2014.
“These inflows, in addition to rain earlier in the year, have resulted in medium priority allocations for the Upper Condamine Water Supply Scheme to be increased to 53 percent,” said the spokesperson.
“This is the first time the scheme has had medium priority allocations above 0 percent at (the) start of the water year since 2015. High priority allocations are 100 percent.”
Sunwater’s estimates indicated Leslie Dam was less than 30 percent full before 25 June, when the region experienced heavy rains.
By 3 July, Leslie Dam was 34 percent full. The next morning, the dam was nearly 37 percent full. Leslie Dam finally reached 40 percent capacity on Friday 9 July, and has continued to rise since.
Many have been following the steady rise in water level at Leslie Dam with keen interest, sharing daily updates on social media since early July.
Southern Downs Regional Council-managed dams have also risen in recent weeks.
As at Sunday 12 July, according to the council’s estimates, Connolly Dam and Storm King Dam were both at 100 percent capacity.
Leslie Dam and Connolly Dam supply water to Warwick residents and the district’s irrigators, while Storm King Dam supplies Stanthorpe’s urban supply network.
Local residents now have their fingers crossed Leslie Dam will reach 50 percent capacity before spring.
