8 May 2009
Dry week sees storages drop 0.3%
Melbourne's water storages declined by 0.3% of capacity (6.6 billion litres) after a week of effectively no rainfall over the major catchments.
Average rainfall over the major catchments in the past week was 0.3 mm, much less than the long-term average for the period, 17.4 mm.
Consequently, the 2.1 billion litres of runoff into the major reservoirs was little more than half of the long-term average.
While the streamflows from the good rain the previous week helped lessen the decline in storages, follow-up falls are needed to help boost reservoir levels.
Storages are now 27.5% (487.1 billion litres) full, compared with 31.2% (552.3 billion litres) at the same time last year.
Melburnians continued their good water saving efforts, with cool weather helping keep residential water consumption to 138 litres per person per day. This is the ninth week in a row that the Target of 155 litres each a day 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.
Links
Media Contact: Andrew McGinnes +613 9235 7277 +61 (0)403 930 846