17 April 2009
Low rainfall and runoff as storages drop
Light rain and below average streamflows have seen Melbourne's water storages drop by 0.3% of capacity in the past week.
Storages are now 28.4% (503.2 billion litres) full, compared with 32.3% (572.5 billion litres) at the same time last year.
The decrease, which equates to 5.6 billion litres, came as an average of 12.3 mm of rain fell over the major catchments in the past week.
This was about 30% below the long-term average for the period (17.9 mm).
The 2.1 billion litres of run-off into the major reservoirs was about 43% below the long-term average.
Despite sporadic falls over the catchments in the past fortnight, follow-up rain is needed to help generate enough runoff into reservoirs to boost storages.
The cool conditions helped keep residential water use down. Melburnians used an average of 135 litres per person per day - the sixth consecutive week that we have met the target of 155 litres each a day.
More information on restrictions and tips on how to reach the target are available from Target 155 or by contacting the government water retailers.
Stage 3a restrictions and Target 155 are currently in place.
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Media Contact: Andrew McGinnes +613 9235 7277 +61 (0)403 930 846