24 April 2009
RAIN EXPECTED OVER DRY CATCHMENTS
Melbourne’s water supply catchments are likely to receive some of the rain forecast to fall in parts of Victoria over the next few days.
Manager of Water Supply, John Woodland, said consistent rain throughout the rest of autumn would be needed to trigger a sustained rise in reservoir levels, but that any wet weather would be very welcome.
“The catchments are really dry at the moment and that will limit how much runoff is likely to flow from any rain we might get,” said Mr Woodland.
“We need solid rain over several days to soak the ground in the catchments, followed by more rain to generate some decent runoff into the streams and creeks that feed our reservoirs. That’s when we’ll see storage levels start to head back up.
“Generally this happens in late autumn or early winter.”
Mr Woodland said storages usually reached a natural low point around the end of autumn, which normally marked the start of the reservoir filling season that runs from June to November.
“Storage levels are low at the moment and it’s something we monitor closely,” he said.
“Rain helps reduce the amount of water people use and also helps top up their water tanks, which both take pressure off our storages.
“In addition, people have been doing a great job of consistently meeting Target 155.
“Even with storages at 27.9% today, Melbourne still has close to 500 billion litres of water across its nine reservoirs, which is significant.
“Conditions during winter and spring will be particularly important this year, because it’s a chance to rebuild our buffer ahead of next summer.
“From a longer-term perspective, the reduced runoff levels and current storage situation shows why it’s so important for Melbourne to diversify its water sources beyond dams to include non-rainfall dependent options like desalination,” added Mr Woodland.
The first of three major projects delivering more water to Melbourne, reconnection of Tarago Reservoir, is due for completion in mid-2009. This project will provide an additional 15 billion litres of water annually to the city’s supply.
Media Contact: Nicolas McGay +613 9235 2278 +61 (0)438 981 836