8 March 2010
STORMS HAVE POSITIVE IMPACT ON DAMS
Heavy storms during 6-8 March 2010 delivered an unseasonal (but very welcome) boost to Melbourne’s storages.
It takes a few days for the full impact of rain to show up in our reservoirs - but here is an overview so far:
- In the 48 hours to 8am on Monday 8 March, Melbourne’s major water supply catchments had received up to 55mm. This included:
- Thomson - 48.0mm
- Upper Yarra - 54.8mm
- Maroondah - 48.8mm
- O’Shannassy - 54.8mm
- The average March rainfall for the catchments (as distinct from the average for Melbourne) is 62.8mm.
- Approximately 2 billion litres has been added to storages so far, taking reservoir levels from 34.6% to 34.7%. To put this in perspective, 1.0% of Melbourne’s storage capacity equates to 18 billion litres. Melbourne uses approximately 1 billion litres a day.
- At the same time last year, Melbourne’s storages were at 30.4% - a difference of close to 90 billion litres.
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Media Contact: Andrew McGinnes +613 9235 7277 +61 (0)403 930 846