15 January 2010
Biggest weekly drop in nine months
A week of dry weather and high water use has seen storages decline by 0.5% of capacity - the biggest weekly drop since April 2009.
The decrease, representing an overall drop of 7.6 billion litres, came as the major catchments received next to no rainfall.
The catchments received between 1.8 to 7.2 mm of rain during the week, with an average of 6.2 mm.
This was almost half the longterm average for the period, 10.9 mm.
As a result, the amount of water flowing into the major reservoirs was below historical levels.
The 2.3 billion litres of inflow was almost 60% below the average of 5.1 billion litres.
Storages are now 36.9% (668.7 billion litres) full, compared with 34.4% (609.8 billion litres) at the same time last year.
The hot weather saw residential water use rise significantly, with Melburnians using a daily average of 187 litres each.
This was 32 litres above the daily target of 155 litres per person.
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