If this water is released to maintain river flow, it can cause adverse impacts on the downstream ecosystem including fish populations. Under worse case conditions (such as when the reservoir is full or near full), the stored water is strongly stratified and large volumes of water are being released to the downstream river channel via bottom level outlets, depressed temperatures can be detected 250 - 350 kilometres downstream.
Releasing this water into the river to maintain flow can have negative consequences for the downstream ecosystem, including fish populations. In extreme situations (such as when the reservoir is full or nearly full), the stored water becomes highly stratified and large amounts of water are released through bottom-level outlets, resulting in depressed temperatures 250 - 350 kilometres downstream.