Contact Us

Melbourne Water

Melbourne's water
storages
are currently

26.1%

3 July 2009

OVERALL
STORAGE
LEVEL

26.0%

WEEKLY
STORAGE
CHANGE

-0.2% Decrease by -0.2%

SAME TIME
LAST
YEAR

29.6%

AVERAGE
DAILY
CONSUMPTION

130 L

AVERAGE
CATCHMENT
RAINFALL

21.1mm

Rain ineffective as storages resume drop

Stage 3a water restrictions are now in place

Target 155

Storages have resumed their decline after a week of below average rainfall and minimal streamflow.

After a 22 billion litre boost from the reconnection of Tarago Reservoir last month, storages then fell by 0.2% of capacity (3.8 billion litres) in the past week.

The drop came as 21.1 mm of rain fell over the major catchments, below the average for the period, 31.5 mm.

The intermittent rain had little effect on the dry catchments. The 3.4 billion litres of streamflow into the major reservoirs was 73% below average (12.6 billion litres).

The catchments need persistent rain before we see a sustained increase in storage levels.

Storages are now 26.0% (470.6 billion litres) full, compared with 29.6% (524.2 billion litres) at the same time last year.

Residential water consumption was low. Melburnians used an average of 130 litres each per day – the 17th week in a row that Target 155 has been met.

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 3a restrictions and Target 155 are currently in place.

Daily residential water use for Melbourne
This graph shows Melbourne's water consumption

   PREVIOUS WEEKS
   CURRENT WEEK
   TARGET 155

All figures include non-metropolitan supply for Western Water (supplied since March 2000), which are not included in annual Melbourne metropolitan consumption figures.

Melbourne's water storages

View interactive storage graph for 1997-2009 (opens in a new window)

Current and historical Water Storage graph

   2007     2008     2009  
100% capacity = 1810.5 GL
NB: Prior to 26 June 2009, 100% capacity = 1773 GL

Total system storage (as of 2 July 2009)
Reservoir Capacity at full supply (ML) Volume (ML) % Full
Thomson 1,068,000 173,065 16.2%
Upper Yarra 200,000 82,239 41.1%
O'Shannassy 3,000 2,106 70.2%
Maroondah 22,000 6,217 28.3%
Sugarloaf 96,000 14,949 15.6%
Yan Yean 30,000 5,721 19.1%
Greenvale 27,000 19,984 74.0%
Silvan 40,000 34,847 87.1%
Cardinia 287,000 109,402 38.1%
Tarago 37,500 22,025 58.7%
Total 1,810,500 470,555 26.0%
Rainfall recorded at the reservoirs
Catchment 26 Jun - 2 Jul
2009
Average for
the period*
Variation 26 Jun - 2 Jul
2008
Thomson 17.4 mm 32.8 mm 47.0% below 39.6 mm
Upper Yarra 30.8 mm 28.7 mm 7.3% above 37.6 mm
O'Shannassy 21.4 mm 39.1 mm 45.3% below 48.8 mm
Maroondah 6.2 mm 25.4 mm 75.6% below 9.6 mm

* Average (30 year mean 1979-2008)

Stream flow for the major catchments
Catchment 26 Jun - 2 Jul
2009
Average for
the period*
Variation 26 Jun - 2 Jul
2008
Thomson 1646 ML 5560 ML 70.4% below 2995 ML
Upper Yarra 438 ML 3060 ML 85.7% below 883 ML
O'Shannassy 885 ML 1950 ML 54.6% below 1093 ML
Maroondah 464 ML 1990 ML 76.7% below 1072 ML
Total 3433 ML 12560 ML 72.7% below 6043 ML

* Average (30 year mean 1979-2008)

Note: These results are preliminary and are validated at the end of the month.

Yarra Catchment
Report for period 25 June - 1 July 2009 (inclusive):

  • Current seven day rolling average flows for Yarra River @ Yarra Glen = 407.5 ML/day (up 22.8 ML/day from the previous week)
  • Current seven day rolling average flows for Yarra River @ Warrandyte = 230.3 ML/day (down 28.5 ML/day from the previous week)
  • Current seven day rolling average flows for Little Yarra River @ Yarra Junction = 33.2 ML/day (down 1.8 ML/day from the previous week)
  • Current seven day rolling average flows for Woori Yallock Creek @ Yellingbo = 53.2 ML/day (up 5.4 ML/day from the previous week)
  • Total rainfall at Upper Yarra Reservoir for July is 3.21 mm (long-term monthly average for July is 105.2 mm)
  • Total rainfall at Upper Yarra Reservoir for June is 66.66 mm (long-term monthly average for June is 103.9 mm)
  • Total rainfall at Silvan Reservoir for July is 0 mm (long-term monthly average for July is 107.4 mm)
  • Total rainfall at Silvan Reservoir for June is 71.6 mm (long-term monthly average for June is 118.5 mm)

Maribyrnong Catchment
Report for period 25 June - 1 July 2009 (inclusive):

Rosslyne Reservoir
Melbourne Water's Capacity Share of the storage as at 29 June 2009 was 20 Megalitres (ML)

  • Current release from Rosslyne (as at 29 June 2009) to meet bulk entitlement demands = 0.4 ML/day
  • Current seven day rolling average flows for Jacksons Creek @ Sunbury = 1.2 ML/day (up 1.0 ML/day from the previous week)
  • Current seven day rolling average flows for Deep Creek @ Bulla = 0.6 ML/day (down 0.1 ML/day from the previous week)
  • Current seven day rolling average flows for Maribyrnong River @ Keilor (Brimbank Park) = 1.6 ML/day (up 0.2 ML/day from the previous week)
  • Total rainfall at Rosslyne Reservoir for July is 5 mm (long-term monthly average for July is 57.8 mm)
  • Total rainfall at Rosslyne Reservoir for June is 34.2 mm (long-term monthly average for June is 59.9 mm)

Note: Passing flows at Keilor, as per the bulk entitlement agreement, require 5.0 ML/day or natural, whichever is the lesser, to be passed at Keilor. Natural flows are based on flows at Deep Ck @ Bulla gauging station.

View our archived weekly water updates.

Thomson Reservoir Upper Yarra Reservoir O'Shannassy Reservoir Maroondah Reservoir Sugarloaf Reservoir Silvan Reservoir Cardinia Reservoir Yan Yean Reservoir Greenvale Reservoir