Heat wave impact on water storages
30 January 2009
Like the rest of Melbourne, our water storages have been feeling the heat.
Storages have dropped by around 7.2 billion litres between 8am on Sunday (25 Jan) and 8am on Friday (30 Jan).
This has taken them from 33.6% of their total capacity to 33.2%.
| January 2009 | Sun 25 | Mon 26 | Tue 27 | Wed 28 | Thu 29 | Fri 30 |
| Temperature (maximum) | 27°C | 25°C | 36°C | 43°C | 44°C | 43°C |
| Water storages | 33.6% | 33.6% | 33.5% | 33.4% | 33.3% | 33.2% |
Same time last year
Storages were at 37.3%, which is about 71 billion litres higher than they are now.
Last time storages were this low
22 November 2008 storages were 588.0 GL (33.2%).
Impact of evaporation
Evaporation is a fact of life for all open water storages, like ours.
Melbourne's reservoirs do experience some loss due to evaporation and that increases during hot weather, but it's effectively paid back when it rains.
Depending on the weather in any given year, the storages may receive a similar amount in rain falling on the surface of reservoirs than they lose from the sun hitting it.
Water use by households and business is by far the biggest draw on our storages.
Related information
- Daily water report
- Weekly water update for storage levels per reservoir, water use, rainfall and stream flow in our major catchments and reservoirs (updated every Friday)