19 August 2010
30-billion-litre boost in week of milestones
Melbourne’s water storages topped 700 billion litres for the first time in almost three years as storages increased by 1.7% of capacity in the past week.
In a week of milestones, the dams are now holding over 200 billion litres more water than at the same time last year.
This week also saw the restart of the Sugarloaf Pipeline following its annual shutdown period, transferring 0.8 billion litres from Lake Eildon into Sugarloaf Reservoir.
The weekly storage rise – the biggest of the year - represents a net gain of 30 billion litres, and came as the major catchments received between 25 and 57mm of rain (average of 33mm).
With the week’s falls hitting fairly wet catchments, a lot of the rain made its way into the major reservoirs.
The 29 billion litres of streamflow was 49% above the 30-year average.
Storages are now 39.2% (710 billion litres) full, compared with 27.7% (501.7 billion litres) at the same time last year.
Melburnians used a daily average of 132 litres each – the 22nd week in a row we’ve been below Target 155. In fact, daily average residential water use has not exceeded 140 litres each since April.
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.
Media Contact: Nicolas McGay +613 9235 2278 +61 (0)438 981 836