Daly
Water overview

The 2012–13 wet season was atypically dry in the early months (from December–early March). Up until mid-March, many areas of the Daly region were on track for record low rainfalls. Two monsoonal events occurred in the region in late March which caused minor flooding in the Katherine River and major flooding (above 12.0m) in the Fergusson River. The Daly River reached the major flood level at both Dorisvale (18.0m) and Beeboom (12.0m) Crossings.

Figures W1 and W2 show streamflow pattern, volumes and variation at two major rivers in the region:

• Daly River at Mount Nancar (8140040)
  
• Katherine River at the Railway Bridge (8140001).
  

The two river locations were selected for the following reasons:

• long-term flow data are available
• flows upstream of both river locations are unregulated and diversions are negligible
• both are major rivers in terms of flow volumes.

Figure P5 shows the location of the stream gauges and can be found under Surface water.

Both rivers exhibit typical wet-dry season patterns with very little flow from the months of June–November and higher volumes of flow during December to May (Figures W1 and W2). The wet season of 2012–13 was atypically dry until two monsoons occurred in late March which caused higher flows in April in the Daly River. The Katherine River was unaffected by the monsoonal rainfall and remained below average for the entire wet season. Data in the Katherine River was incomplete for the month of April and has therefore not been reported.

Figure W1 Graph of total monthly flow along the Daly River during the 2012–13 year compared with long-term percentiles

Graph W2 Graph of total monthly flow along the Katherine River during the 2012–13 year compared with long-term percentiles

No major water initiatives occurred in the Day region during the 2012–13 year.