12 May 2011
Taste of winter bumps dams up 0.1%
Wintry conditions have seen Melbourne’s water storages increase by 0.1% in the past week.
The 0.9-billion litre increase is the equivalent of one day’s water supply to Melbourne.
Good rain fell across all catchments, with an average of 26mm – about double the long-term norm for the period (12mm).
The amount of water flowing into the dams on the back of this rain was also well above average.
The major dams had 7 billion litres of stream flow, compared with the 4-billion litre long-term average for the period.
With the mercury dipping to single figures there was a rare dumping of snow at the Maroondah catchment – the closest storage to the city.
Water storages are now 53.9% (977 billion litres) full, compared with 33.3% (603 billion litres) at the same time last year – a difference of 374 billion litres.
Melburnians used an average of 134 litres of water per person per day, the same as the previous week.
Information on water restrictions and tips on how to save water are available from the Office of Water or by contacting the government water retailers.
Stage 2 restrictions are currently in place.
Media Contact: Nicolas McGay +613 9235 2278 +61 (0)438 981 836