Tamworth region water supply: bulk water releases gushing from Copeton Dam and Pindari Dam for irrigators and environment

The amount of water gushing down the Gwydir River each day peaked at more than 2500ML during November - that's 1000 Olympic swimming pools of water.

The block releases from the dam - which is one of the biggest in the state - near Inverell, continued into the new year, with between 600 and 700ML flowing out the flood gates on certain days.

Data from Water NSW shows more than 36,000ML of water was released from Copeton Dam during December last year. That's the equivalent of all the water in Chaffey Dam when it's 33 per cent full.

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Water NSW - which must work within the rules set down by the state government - confirmed two thirds of the water released has been to supply irrigators, while the remaining one third has been for the environment.

A Water NSW spokesperson told the Leader block releases are not uncommon this time of year.

"Current releases from Copeton Dam are not unusual for the summer season when warmer weather means irrigation and environmental requirements increase," the spokesperson said.

"Recent block releases have been made to meet downstream entitlement holder requirements."

The state's leading water authority said it had been working with the Commonwealth to "combine" releases of the precious resource designated for the environment and irrigators.

"Combining the releases means more water flowing further along the rivers, boosting the benefits to native fish communities and towns," the Water NSW spokesperson said in a statement.

The Gwydir River had a minor flood warning in place in mid-December, after heavy rainfall soaked the catchment.

Despite the swollen river, water releases during that period were still in the 2000ML per day range.

"Water NSW constantly monitors flood risk and manages dam releases to minimise any downstream impact," the authority's spokesperson said.

Large volumes of water has been surging out of Pindari Dam as well, with releases jumping from about 50ML each day to more than 1600ML during the last couple of weeks of December. Water NSW indicated the amounts were needed to supply people along the river.

Despite the wet stuff pouring out of the two dams, both are slowly increasing in capacity. Copeton Dam was 19 per cent full on Friday, and Pindari Dam was sitting at 10.7 per cent.