State of the Storages - July 2010
Melbourne's storages have had their best first half of a year since the drought began in 1997, thanks to good rainfall and runoff, reduced water use and major projects.
After starting the year at 37.4%, storages fell by just 3.7% - less than half of the average drop of 9.5% since the drought began.
The good result came as rainfall and runoff at the major catchments were more in tune with long-term averages for January to June. Catchment rainfall was 16% above the average – marking the wettest first half of a year since 2007.
The first half of 2010 has been a stark contrast to the previous two years – the two driest starts to a year on record for our dams.
Storages have now recovered from last year’s record low of 25.6% to end June at 33.7% full – a difference of 157 billion litres.
The recovery, which has been underpinned by the addition of water from the Sugarloaf Pipeline and Tarago Reservoir, has been kicked along by the wetter conditions, putting dams in a good position ahead of the winter and spring filling season. The catchments are now wetter and further rain will produce higher runoff rates.
Melbourne homes and businesses played their part in limiting the storage drop, with average daily consumption across all uses down 44 million litres a day compared with the same period last year – a great effort considering water restrictions were eased to Stage 3 on April 1.
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Here’s a snapshot of how storages are performing:
Key storage facts
- Storages dropped by 3.7% of their total capacity from January to June, from 37.4% to 33.7%. This is the smallest drop for the first half of a year since the drought began in 1997, and compares with a fall of 8.9% in the same period last year.
- The major catchments received 505.1 mm or 16.1% above the long-term average rainfall.
- A total of 106.1 billion litres flowed into Melbourne’s four major dams on the back of this rain, which was below the average by 11.8%.
- Melbourne’s total water use (households and business) dropped by 4.2% compared with the same period last year – a saving of 44 million litres a day.
More information
- Factsheets:
Storages during January-June 2010 (PDF, 57kb)
Storages during June 2010 (PDF, 58kb) - Videos:
Answers to frequently asked questions on storages - Decade in dam levels