Murtho’s milestone as most popular Riverland lock for 2025

Murtho’s historic Lock 6 has claimed the title of the Riverland’s most popular River Murray lock in 2025, according to new data by SA Water.

Nestled on the banks of South Australia’s most northern part of the River Murray, more than 640 lockages were recorded at Lock 6 last year, which is around 100 more than the second-placed Lock 1 in Blanchetown. The Goolwa Barrage remained the most frequented lock operated by SA Water across the River Murray system, with 1,784 visits.

SA Water’s Senior Manager of River Murray Operations Garry Fyfe said Murtho is a popular site for boats, kayaks and all kinds of river vessels visiting South Australia.

“Lock 6 has historically been among our busiest locks, based on its proximity to the border between South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, and the number of boats migrating down the system into the Riverland region,” Garry said.

“This includes an unprecedented 2 decade stretch of recording the Riverland region’s highest lockage annual lockage figures between 1999 and 2018.

“Having been just pipped at the post in recent years, Murtho has made a clear resurgence to top our lockages for the year, and will be tough to beat in 2026.”

Mr Fyfe said a total of 5,677 lockages were recorded for 2025 across the 9 locks managed by SA Water, which is below the 6,208 seen in 2024.

“Despite having Overland Corner’s Lock 3 temporarily closed for maintenance for around a third of the year, the overall lock usage for the year remained at strong levels, which is a testament to the continued popularity of the Riverland as a tourist destination for people visiting the mighty Murray.

“Importantly, the overwhelming majority of people visiting our locks have done so in a safe manner, and we thank everyone for continuing to follow instructions of our dedicated team, as they pass through our iconic river structures on their travels.”

On behalf of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, SA Water manages Locks 1 to 6 in South Australia as well as Lock 7 at Rufus River and Lock 8 at Wangumma in New South Wales, and Lock Nine at Kulnine in Victoria. The utility also operates barrages at Goolwa, Mundoo, Boundary Creek, Ewe Island and Tauwitchere.

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