‘Water appears to be endless’: Menindee Lakes fill for first time in almost a decade

Terry Smith now has to take a detour when he goes to lend his brother a hand with mustering.

From Scarsdale Station outside of Menindee in southern New South Wales, Terry would typically fly – like the proverbial crow – to his brother’s place about 70 kilometres south of the town, on the Darling River.

But floodwaters, now spilling into Lake Speculation, are causing a welcome diversion.

“It’s actually a novelty,” Mr Smith said.

“Normally I’d go straight over but now I have to go around, in case I have to land.”

It’s the first time since 2012 that water has flowed to Lake Speculation.

“To see water running into billabongs and backwaters that haven’t been full for a few years … it is a great thing to wander along and watch floodwaters run down holes and bring all the critters out.

“It’s a great thing to see.”

Three Sydney Harbours worth of water

This weekend the Menindee Lakes – fed by the Darling River and its catchments across NSW and Queensland – are expected to reach their capacity.

By Friday morning, Lakes Cawndilla and Menindee were full, which meant capacity across the system was at greater than 98 per cent.

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That means by Monday, more than the equivalent of three Sydney Harbours will fill across the lake system, located about 1,000km from Sydney, and 200km north of where the Darling and Murray rivers meet.

It is the same part of the world made famous by mass fish kills in early 2019.

Water NSW spokesman Tony Webber says seeing the Menindee Lakes fill now is extraordinary.

“It’s hard to believe,” he told ABC Broken Hill.

“Water [is] starting to make its way into places that haven’t seen water for a while.”

Mr Webber says back-to-back rain events since March have allowed the lakes to fill.

But the severity of drought over recent years has meant it has been slow.

“It seems the drought had such a devastating impact on just the soil nature of the catchment itself,” he said.

‘It’s just fantastic’

At Menindee where residents are locked down with COVID restrictions, the water is a welcome distraction.

Keen angler Graeme McCrabb has been stealing a glimpse at the water flowing into Lake Menindee – the largest of the seven lakes — as he delivers food hampers with the Rural Fire Service.

“It’s amazing to see — [the] water appears to be endless,” Mr McCrabb said.

“It’s just fantastic to be looking across the lakes at beautiful sunshine and hear the sounds of the gushing water and screeching birds”.

Better still, McCrabb says “word on the street” is that fish in the lakes “are biting”.

But while wildlife revel in the floodwaters, human celebrations will remain close to home for now.

Despite the NSW government lifting its COVID lockdown on Friday night for some regional areas, which includes Scarsdale Station, Mr Smith can’t travel far.

“I thought I’d do my grocery shopping in Broken Hill, but they’re locked down,” he said.

“[I] thought I could go to the pub in Menindee, but they’re locked down.

“I might have to get a shearer to give me a haircut.”