A dam shame for Harvey farmers as water levels drop

The Harvey Dam has dropped to its lowest level in almost a decade, with water levels sitting at less than a quarter of capacity.

The irrigation dam is used for agricultural purposes around the region. On average, irrigation dams are 17 per cent lower than they were at this time last year.

On March 17 the dam held 12.75 billion litres of water, which was only 22.6 per cent of its capacity.

On that day last year, the dam was holding 26.4 billion litres and was operating at 46.8 per cent capacity.

Graphs from the Water Corporation show March 2020 as being the lowest dam water level since 2011.

Water Corporation senior adviser Kylie Olney said the low levels were due to climate change.

“As a result of climate change, there has been less inflow from rainfall into dams across the South West,” Mrs Olney said.

Rainfall since 1970 has decreased by 20 per cent and is expected to decrease by a further 15 per cent by 2030.