![Drenched Dubbo on Saturday, 8 October 2022. Picture by Amy McIntyre Drenched Dubbo on Saturday, 8 October 2022. Picture by Amy McIntyre](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/168083814/e9c6216b-78f4-4695-a1a7-089309d87df1.jpg/r0_0_3840_2560_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
In the last 24 hours, the water level at Burrendong Dam in Wellington has risen to 115.9 per cent capacity, up from 113 per cent on Friday.
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Water NSW spokesman Tony Webber said inflows to Burrendong Dam from the rain came through at a rate of 73 gigalitres in the last 24 hours and they are releasing 15 gigalitres per day.
"We are holding back for as long as possible to allow downstream tributaries to peak," Mr Webber said.
Mr Webber said carefully releasing 15 gigalitres per day allows the dams to capture more inflow without adding to flood impacts to towns downstream.
Burrendong Dam is located 30 kilometres southeast of Wellington, between Orange and Dubbo, and is the main catchment for the central west region.
Ahead of the Bureau of Meteorology's heavy rainfall forecast this weekend, predicted from 100 to 200 millimetres, Water NSW has cut water releases from key regional dams.
Mr Webber said they are "cautiously lowering storage levels in key dams in recent days in preparation for inflows generated by large rainfall events" across inland regions.
The major inland dams under close watch in the central-west region are Burrendong, Wyangala and Keepit and Copeton in the north-west.
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Wyangala has reached 92.8 percent capacity and receiving 16 gigalitres per day from rainfall, and releasing 10 gigalitres of water downstream.
Across other inland regional major dams, Mr Webber said, they are expecting sharp increases due to heavy rain forecasts in the catchments for Burrendong and Burrinjuck dams.
By midday, Burrinjuck in the southwest has reached 104.8 per cent capacity and releasing 55 gigalitres per day.
Earlier this week, Burrendong reached 118.2 per cent capacity, Wyangala at 93.6 per cent, and Keepit at 92.5 per cent.
Mr Webber said WaterNSW works closely with BOM to monitor weather and flood forecasts for flood mitigation planning.
For more information on WaterNSW dam storage, click www.waternsw.com.au.