Navigation restrictions
Lock 8 Lock Chamber closed for 2 days 29th and 30th May 2013 Lock 9 Lock Chamber closed for 2 days 3rd and 4th June 2013 Lock 1 Lock Chamber closed for 2 days 5th and 6th June 2013 Lock 3 Lock Chamber closed for 2 days 11th and 12th June 2013 For further information please use the contact numbers below.

River Murray Operations (RMO) is part of SA Water’s Operations group. SA Water is contracted by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to operate and maintain Locks 1 to 9, storage at Lake Victoria and the five barrages at Lake Alexandrina and Goolwa. The RMO undertakes this work and is based in Berri in South Australia.


River Murray Operations Unit

SA Water 28 Vaughan Terrace Berri

PO Box 546 Berri, SA, 5343

Telephone 08 8595 2222 Facsimile 08 8595 2218

Find out more about:

Historical information

The River Murray is an ancient river, with a history spanning more than 60 million years from the time Australia split from the giant super continent of Gondwanaland and began its slow northward drift. 

Aborigines have occupied the river valley for at least 40,000 years, with the river playing a major role in their Dreaming, particularly for the Ngarrindjeri people.

According to the Dreaming, the Murray was turned from a stream into the mighty river that we know today as a result of local ‘hero’ Ngurunderi chasing a giant codfish (Ponde). As the fish swam ahead of Ngurunderi it widened the river with sweeps of its tail. At Tailem Bend (Tagalang) he threw a spear at the giant fish, causing it to surge ahead and creating a long straight stretch in the river.

Charles Sturt’s account of his trip in 1832 indirectly resulted in the establishment of South Australia in 1836.

Paddle steamer trade peaked during the 1860s to the 1880s, as cargo was carried upstream to meet the needs of settlers and the hopefuls at the Victorian goldfields. Downstream cargo consisted of produce such as wool, wheat, hides, salt and oats.

To regulate the flow of the river, the River Murray Commission coordinated the construction of storages, locks and weirs; six of them in South Australia, in the 1920s and 1930s. At the mouth, five barrages were built across the channels leading from Lake Alexandrina to prevent seawater entering the lakes system during periods of low river flow.

The significant contribution of the locks to the State’s development has been irrigation and navigation. The use of water from the river has turned towns along its banks into thriving oases of orchards of citrus and stone fruit, grapes and vegetables and a consistently navigable passage has seen tourism boom.

Sustainable management to improve the health of the Murray is critical to allow South Australia's urban, industrial and agricultural development to continue. It’s a unique ribbon of life for South Australia.