Previous Trip Analysis

All river flow data was obtained from historical records of Biggara. All trips described experienced a decreasing flow rate during their journey down the system.

During my journey from 21 Dec to 24 Dec 2019, the water level at Biggara ranged from 0.23 m to 0.26 m, and the flow was 161 to 201 ML/day. This was barely enough water, and I had to drag my kayak for nearly 50% of the trip. My journey had the lowest water levels by far of all the trip reports found, with flows in the lowest 2% recorded since 1968, and the lowest December flows except for 2006 during the Millennium drought. 🙁

Although uncertain about the exact dates, Xavier Anderson and Jason MacQueen seem to have completed the Poplars to Tom Groggin trip in mid-Nov 2019, with a water level of 0.5 m and a flow of around 650 ML/day. No mention was made of any issues due to low flows.

Mike Bremer, et al, completed their journey in just two days (14 & 15 Dec 2017) with four times the flow. The water level ranged from 0.62 m to 0.64 m, and the flow was 908 to 967 ML/day. No mention was made of the need to drag their inflatable kayaks, except over occasional boulders.

Rod Wellington, on his trip from 6 to 12 Jan 2008, passed Tom Groggin, but his blog suggests a harder time than I had. The water level at Biggara ranged from 0.34 m to 0.42 m, and the flow was 269 to 367 ML/day. Although he had a higher flow, it was likely the heavier kayak and load that resulted in significant amounts of dragging.

James Castrission, et al, completed their journey from 10 to 15 Nov 2001, facing high flows and frigid temperatures as they pack-surfed (no floatation device) their way down. The water level ranged from 0.94 m to 1.18 m, and the flow was 1,674 to 2,890 ML/day. This was one of the highest recorded flows, and they encountered what they considered to be Grade III rapids.

Kevin Moody, et al, completed their trip from 26 to 29 Jan 1988, using lilos. The water level ranged from 0.37 m to 0.45 m, and the flow was 229 to 349 ML/day. Even with the higher flow of 349 ML/day, they reported the need to drag their lilos regularly, especially above Tin Mine Ck and in the final sections before Tom Groggin.

According to waterwaysguide.org.au, a level of 0.8 m is listed as the minimum, and 1.0 m is considered a good level for kayaking or rafting in the Murray Gorge, with a Grade III/IV grading (referring to a whitewater guide for the difficulty of the individual rapids).

The archived Paddle Australia guide recommends a wider range of 0.80 - 1.80 m, with an additional note to add 0.35 m to the Bigarra readings to estimate the Murray Gorge level.

Previous trip reports mostly fell in the 0.4 m to 0.8 m range at Bigarra, but without indication of the grade of difficulty. Ro and Josh noted low flows at 0.4 m and 355 ML/day in their report.

It's worth noting that even for me with no prior experience in rafting or whitewater activities, a water level of 0.2 m did not present a high level of difficulty although I had to portage most of the main drops due to a lack of water.

These guidelines are based only on a small handful of known trips and should be used only as a reference. No high flow trips were found.