On Wednesday the dam was sitting at 79 per cent capacity – the highest it’s been since September 2002 – and yesterday it reached 80 per cent.

The dam was climbing steadily throughout last year and at the start of 2012 was still sitting at 48 per cent.

But in the first three days of February the dam received 100,000 megalitres, raising it from 50 per cent on the first of the month to 74 per cent on the third.

State Water storage custodian Richard Torrens said recent continuous rain and the small catchment, which meant water ran off quickly, were behind the rapid increase.

“(It means) more security for irrigators downstream of Split Rock and all the way down to Keepit,” Mr Torrens said.

The water level should remain steady because Keepit Dam is full and will not need any releases from Split Rock.

But he does not expect the water level to rise much higher unless more rain is on its way.

Manilla local Phil Hardyman was out fishing on the dam on Wednesday and said in the 10 years he’d been living in and visiting the area he had never seen the dam so full.

His mate Jeff Medhurst, from Newcastle, had never seen fish so active.

“Because the water’s come up so quick there’s tonnes of food coming up out of the earth,” Mr Medhurst said.

Split Rock was last full in December 2001, and before that filled in February 2001, December 2000 and January 2000.

The dam’s water flowed over the spillway in September 1998 and stayed full until 2000 when it had another significant spill.