29 May 2008
AUTUMN WATER SAVINGS HELP STORAGES
Melbourne’s water storages are now 30.2% full (536,178 million litres) compared to 28.8% full (510,543 million litres) for the same time last year, representing close to 26 billion litres more water. Storages have dropped slightly by 0.29% since last week.
There was some reasonable rainfall over the Thomson (14.4mm) and Upper Yarra (12.2mm) catchments. However, with three days of Autumn left, the four major catchments have so far received roughly half of their long-term average rainfall for the past three months.
Impressive water saving efforts continue to help, with daily water use about 20% lower than the five year Autumn average – 972 million litres per day compared with 1,207 million litres.
Stage 3a restrictions remain in place until at least 30 June, 2008. Further details on water restrictions are available by visiting the Our Water Our Future website or by contacting the government water retailers.