Melbourne's water storages on the recovery path

Melbourne's dams have entered autumn with 83 billion litres more water than at the same last year, after welcome summer rain, outstanding water savings from Melbourne households and the start of flows from two major water projects.

The latest figures released today by Melbourne Water showed that the catchments received 231mm of rain, the most summer rain in five years, but the amount of water that flowed into the city's dams was almost 34 per cent below average.

Water Minister Tim Holding said after 13 years of drought a wetter-than-average summer was a welcome relief but with inflows still well below historical averages it was clear Melbourne could not rely solely on dams and needed a diverse range of water supply options for the future.

"Melbourne's storages have risen 180 billion litres since June last year, when they fell to a record low of 25.6 per cent, but they are still just above one third full," Mr Holding said.

"That's why it's vital to diversify our sources. With water now flowing down the Sugarloaf Pipeline and Tarago Reservoir re-connected, we've started the recovery in our storage levels.

"It is these major water projects and the desalination plant which are the roadmap back from severe water restrictions for Melbourne households."

Melbourne's water storages are currently 34.9 per cent compared to 30.9 per cent at the same time last year.

Mr Holding said households benefited from higher rainfall this summer and were able to make considerable savings in the garden and inside the home.

"Last summer Melburnians used 177 litres per person per day but this year we were able to cut it back to 160 litres - a saving of 17 litres per person per day," he said.

"Without the additional water Melbourne's households have saved since Target 155 began, our storages would be 22 billion litres lower."

Melbourne Water's figures also showed that from December to the end of February:

Storages dropped by 3.1 per cent or 55.5 billion litres;

Total water use by industry, businesses, households and local councils was 63 million litres per day lower compared to last summer- a 5.6 per cent decrease; and

Inflows into catchments were 44.7 billion litre compared to 59.2 billion litres last summer.

Mr Holding today inspected the progress on a $60 million project to replace 10.5 kilometres of water main from Preston to North Essendon.

"Since 2002/03 Melbourne's water authorities have reduced leaks and bursts from pipes across the city by more than 34.4 per cent by replacing water mains, undertaking leak detection and responding quickly to bursts when they occur," he said.

"Melbourne's water supply system ranks amongst the best cities in the world for minimising leaks and bursts."



Tags: Victorian Government news