WA News

Kimberley locals go chasing waterfalls as record wet season continues

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In WA's Kimberley when it rains it pours and the record breaking wet season the region is having right now shows little sign of abating.

Waterfalls like the King George Twin Falls are in full roar, rivers are swollen, roads are closed, remote communities are flying in supplies and the parched landscape has transformed to vibrant green. 

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Lake Argyle spillway view from the sky

Lake Argyle is 4.8m overfull and there is 712,000 litres per second being voided from the dam via this spillway. Vision: Ben Broady.

The region is on track to record one of its biggest ever wet seasons with the Bureau of Meteorology already rating it in top 5 - and there's still more to come.

In a spectacular illustration of just how much water has already fallen, a drone video by local Ben Broady shows WA's largest man-made reservoir absolutely roaring after its wet season top up.

"Lake Argyle is currently 4.8m overfull with 712,000 litres per second being voided from the dam's spillway," he writes, the footage hovering above a narrow canal flowing fast with excess water from the main body.

"Every six days there is enough fresh rain water flowing down the spillway to supply Perth for an entire year. The lake is currently 31 times the size of Sydney harbor which means it is 10 Sydney harbours over full!"

And while the old idea to build the Kimberley-Perth Canal is definitely not on the WA election agenda this time around, the video truly shows just how much water WA could have access to from the north if that idea ever gets off the drawing board.

But right now the focus in Kimberley is making its tourism sector rain all year round, and there's a growing push to rename the wet season as 'the waterfall season' to attract more visitors in what is usually a quiet period.

Channelling that spirit, photographer Landi Bradshaw captured a spectacular image of a waterfall splashing into Cathedral Gorge in the remote Purnululu National Park where the world famous Bungle Bungle Range lies.

"I am one of very few people to see the water flowing in this natural amphitheatre. Seeing this with my own eyes basically left me speechless.

"Standing near the waterfall is HeliSpirit pilot Sam, who flew us down to see this amazing place. This tour was the first of it's kind with exclusive access to land a helicopter at the start of the Piccaninny Creek Walk. 

"This was seriously a once in a lifetime experience and the weather conditions couldn't have been more ideal for a trip like this!"