14 May 2010
Wet week and low water use slows decline
Rainfall and runoff were both above average over the past week, minimising the drop in storages.
Low water use also helped lessen the decline, with storages dropping by 0.1%, or 1.3 billion litres.
The major catchments received between 17.2 and 26.8 mm of rain during the week, with the average being 20.2 mm.
This was 75% above the long-term average for the period of 11.5 mm.
A total of 4.7 billion litres of water made its way into the major reservoirs.
This was 28% above the norm for this time of year, 3.7 billion litres.
Storages are now 33.3% (602.6 billion litres) full, compared with 27.2% (481.7 billion litres) at the same time last year – a difference of 120.9 billion litres.
The rainfall helped keep residential water use at low levels, with households staying under the target of 155 litres per person a day for the 10th week in a row.
Melburnians used a daily average of 136 litres per person – 19 litres below the target.
More information on restrictions and tips on how to reach the target are available from Target 155 [website no longer available, visit Office of Water for this information] or by contacting the government water retailers.
Stage 3 restrictions and Target 155 are currently in place.
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Media Contact: Nicolas McGay +613 9235 2278 +61 (0)438 981 836