New South Wales is awash with water as the La Niña weather pattern continues to deliver rain across the state.
The dams are full and massive amounts of water are being released as more heavy rain is forecast to arrive in the next week.
An amount of water equivalent to ten times the volume of Sydney Harbour has been dumped in the Barwon Darling river system since February, causing the lakes at Menindee to receive the equivalent of three times its volume in that time.
In the case of Wyangala Dam on the Lachlan River and Burrunjuck Dam on the Murrumbidgee authorities have released as much water as the dams will hold to enable them to cope with the water still coming in.
Tony Webber from WaterNSW said it had been a difficult period.
"For a long while over summer it was just relentless, release as much water as you could between rain events and and prepare for the next huge amount of water," he said.
Dam managers have to make space for new inflows, while doing their best to avoid flooding in the valleys and flood plains downstream.
"WaterNSW has been releasing huge volumes of water from the major supply dams ahead of back to back rain events," Mr Webber said.
Rain keeps on coming
Just about all the dams are at 90 per cent or more capacity, with rain expected to continue into September.
"It's quite extraordinary, it probably the best water security we've had in 30 years," Mr Webber said.
It is an amazing turn around from the drought when dams like Keepit, Split Rock and Burrendong were practically empty.
And while three quarters of the volume of the Menindee Lakes has already been released down stream into the Barwon Darling, there is more water still to come into the system.
"There's a huge amount of water that we're really still calculating coming down from rain events in southern Queensland and the Border Rivers, but also from the Macquarie and other tributaries," he said.
Tony Webber said it was equivalent to almost another three Sydney Harbours worth.
Environment benefits
The downpours spell good news for the environment.
It has rejuvenated key rivers and vast wetlands, according to Mr Webber, particularly waterways out in the Far West that have suffered so badly for so long.
"It's really booming ... we saw that incredible pelican breeding event on Lake Brewster on the Lachlan, but also all major inland river valleys are experiencing an environmental rejuvenation," he said.
y Michael Condon and David Claughton