Tar-Ru (Lake Victoria) is a naturally occurring, freshwater lake approximately 60 km downstream of the Murray–Darling Junction in south-western New South Wales, close to the South Australian and Victorian borders.
Since 1928, the lake has been operated by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) and its predecessors as a regulated, off-river storage as part of the River Murray system. Since the mid-2010s, meeting the May 31 minimum reserve and filling the lake in late spring appears to have become a more frequent challenge.
HARC was engaged by the MDBA to examine why this might be the case, and develop a workplan to address the challenges associated with operating Tar-Ru. The project included interviews and workshops with the MDBA, and water resource managers, storage operators and environmental water holder representatives from the Basin States.
