7 September 2010
TEMPORARY FLOOD CONDITIONS BOOST WATER SECURITY
Recent rain is delivering a major boost to Melbourne’s water security ahead of summer.
Manager of Water Supply, John Woodland, said more than 42 billion litres had been added to storages in the past week - enough to supply the city for about 40 days.
"This is a rare return to form for our network of 10 dams, given they’ve spent the past decade with inflows much lower than assumed when they were built," said Mr Woodland.
"Events like this reinforce the important role dams continue to have in our system, but also remind us that we don’t want to rely solely on record-breaking weather events for water security."
Mr Woodland said the city’s largest dam, the Thomson, was benefiting most from the wet weather, rising by 22 billion litres since 1 September.
"This is putting us in a much stronger position ahead of warmer weather when we know dam levels will drop," added Mr Woodland.
The Thomson reached an all-time low of 16% in June 2009 but is now approaching 30% full for the first time since October 2006.
In June, Melbourne Water announced it was shifting water between its 10 reservoirs to make room for winter and spring rains. This included transferring more water into Sugarloaf Reservoir, which receives water from the Yarra River, Maroondah Reservoir and Sugarloaf Pipeline.
"To help make the most of the exceptional inflows we’re seeing from the Yarra catchment, we’re temporarily suspending flows from the Sugarloaf Pipeline," added Mr Woodland.
"We’ll keep this water in Lake Eildon and bring it down the pipeline later in the year, so that we continue to strengthen Melbourne’s water security ahead of summer.
"This is exactly the kind of flexibility we’ve been working to create - the ability to juggle supply sources depending on what’s happening with the climate.
"Floods are temporary and the past decade has taught us it’s too risky to rely on dams alone. Water security isn’t something we can afford to have a short memory about and it’s why the Sugarloaf Pipeline and desalination plant are so important."
Melbourne’s 10 dams are 43.5% full compared with 28.9% at the same time last year - a difference of 265 billion litres.
Media contact: Andrew McGinnes (03) 9235 7277; 0403 930 846