RECONNECTION OF TARAGO RESERVOIR A STEP CLOSER
From the Acting Premier
14 May 2007
Water Minister John Thwaites today announced another practical step in securing Melbourne's future water supplies with land obtained for a new treatment plant at Tarago Reservoir in Gippsland.
Mr Thwaites said reconnecting Tarago Reservoir, taken offline in 1994, would provide Melbourne with up to an additional 21,000 million litres of drinking-quality water a year.
The reconnection of Tarago, combined with other augmentation measures being pursued by the Bracks Government, will help provide Melbourne with long-term water security.
"These measures are in addition to the 100 billion litres a year of water saved through Melbourne's successful water conservation program," Mr Thwaites said.
"And a range of immediate contingency measures were announced in January, to secure an extra 40 billion litres of water over the next two years."
Mr Thwaites said pumping changes at Yering Gorge had been completed, improvements to operations at Thomson Dam had been made and improved water harvesting of Yarra tributaries was in place.
Further works, including the lining of the Maroondah Aqueduct, will be completed in the coming months.
Mr Thwaites said continued record low rainfall over Summer had resulted in Melbourne's storages reaching 29.3 per cent today. But the Government had introduced tougher restrictions - Stage 3a - ahead of this to conserve more water.
"Stage 3a restrictions are working well. They strike the right balance between conserving water and providing continuity in water use arrangements as we head into our traditional filling season," he said.
"Reservoir levels are predicted to rise with winter rain and it would have made no sense to force Melburnians to chop and change between Stage Three and Stage Four restrictions.
"Melburnians are continuing to do a great job saving water under Stage 3a restrictions, saving 4.5 billion litres of water in April 2007 compared to April 2006, while 3a restrictions have enabled community sport to continue and to protect jobs in the nursery and car wash industries.
"In the first month of Stage 3a, April water use was 13 per cent lower than April in 2006, with demand down from 34 billion litres to 29.5 billion this year. The April water use this year was over 30 per cent less than the average in the 1990s."