SWIRLING brown floodwaters in Victoria's north and west and parts of Gippsland have done more than damage some properties and fencing.
These floods have secured the season and revived the hope of farmers throughout southeast Australia, from the Riverina and Goulburn Valley to the Riverland.
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Since last Wednesday, 281,000 megalitres of water have poured into Lake Eildon, pushing the storage's capacity from 41.6 per cent to almost 53 per cent in a week. And there's more runoff to come.
Downstream of Eildon 173,700 megalitres poured over Goulburn Weir in the week to yesterday, forcing its way out on to the floodplain.
Even Dartmouth Dam managed to climb to almost 42 per cent, while Hume Dam is close to 60 per cent capacity.
That water is money in the bank for irrigators who have struggled through a decade of drought. It means they can finally tap into decent allocations again.
But it will take time to readjust. Production patterns changed during the drought and now opportunistic water use has become the norm for many in a climate of uncertainty.
Much of the water pouring into dams will be held to secure next season's supplies.
There's also a whisper of hope doing the rounds that recent rain may have waterlogged and killed large numbers of locust eggs across the state's north, either by starving them of oxygen, exposing the eggs to predators or leaving them vulnerable to disease.
There is some evidence waterlogging does kill young locusts just prior to hatching. However, most of the egg beds are in Victoria's northwest and the Riverina, which were not flooded or waterlogged.
This means farmers cannot afford to be complacent.
The locusts are just one of the hurdles farmers and their communities face in coming months as they try to get a decent season under their belts and meet the repayments on drought-induced debts.
Grain growers can't relax until the harvest is in, winegrape growers will be looking for a bounce in prices and dairy farmers will be watching the dollar.
But all eyes will be on the fragile global economy as it staggers towards what everyone hopes is a stable and strong recovery.
