More than a month's worth of rain is projected to fall in the next six days and dams continue to sit near spilling point.
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According to Water NSW, water has been released from the dams to give areas downstream the best chance of avoiding exacerbated flooding.
"In recent days Water NSW has been cautiously releasing water to create storage capacity at major dams," a spokesperson said.
"This water has been released by Water NSW's dam operators over the past 5-6 days, at rates calculated to create capacity to capture more inflow without adding to flood impacts downstream."
According to the spokesperson, water releases from "Keepit [are] back down to 5400 megs per day and falling".
The spokesperson said there's only a trickle leaving Split Rock Dam, with a meagre eight megalitres being released each day, which amounts to just over three olympic swimming pools worth of water.
The releases are "likely to continue falling in increments" as heavy rain falls later in the week, the spokesperson said.
On Tuesday Split Rock Dam was sitting at 98.9 per cent, up from 97 per cent last week. Keepit Dam was holding 92.5 per cent, down from 100.3 per cent last week.
Despite the releases there could still be plenty of water flowing down the Namoi.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) the coming fronts will bring rainfall into the triple digits.
"The latest advice from the BoM is that up to 100-200mm could be expected across much of inland NSW, including the Namoi and Gwydir," it said in a statement to the Leader.
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According to local weather expert Dave Farrenden, spilling is a distinct possibility.
Mr Farrenden said high isolated rainfall totals are possible with storms and could push the dams to capacity.
"One model is actually predicting 100mm up there. That's the BoM [Bureau of Meteorology] model," he said.
"If you get 30mm up there, then that's surely enough to tip that dam [Split Rock Dam] over."
It's not great news for those trying to make the most of the remainder of their school holidays, according to Mr Farrenden.
He said the likelihood of flooding means people might want to get home while they can.
"With the school holidays ending, I would even advise people to head home a bit early, especially if they're in any of those outback areas," he said.
"A number of roads are going to be cut because of this system."
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Mark Kriedemann
I take a particular interest in industry, environment, science, and technology subjects. Besides studies in media, my tertiary education covers genetics, as well as International Relations. I therefore strive to draw links between these varying disciplines to give a comprehensive analysis of developments in industry, agriculture, and the associated politics.
I take a particular interest in industry, environment, science, and technology subjects. Besides studies in media, my tertiary education covers genetics, as well as International Relations. I therefore strive to draw links between these varying disciplines to give a comprehensive analysis of developments in industry, agriculture, and the associated politics.
