30 July 2010
1mm of rain but 5 billion litres banked
Melbourne’s dam levels continued to rise in another week with little rain over the catchments.
Storages increased 0.3% since last Thursday, representing a net gain of just over 5 billion litres to the city’s reserves.
The boost came despite major catchments averaging under 1mm of rain (well below the norm of 27mm) and is the result of rain in previous weeks still flowing through the system.
Stream flow remained reasonably strong at more than 8 billion litres, despite the dry conditions – but this was almost 40% below the long term average and 5 billion litres less than the previous week.
Storages are now 35.9% (651 billion litres) full, compared with 27.0% (489 billion litres) at the same time last year – a difference of 162 billion litres.
Low water use helped with this lead, with Melburnians using 134 litres per person, per day – 21 litres below the target.
A 28 day exemption for watering in drought-tolerant lawns will apply in Melbourne from 1 September 2010.
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 3 restrictions and Target 155 are currently in place.
Media Contact: Nicolas McGay +613 9235 2278 +61 (0)438 981 836