Melbourne water storage has been boosted to 34.4% thanks to rainfall and now the addition of Lake Eildon.
From Melbourne Water
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Storages rise with runoff and 10 billion boost
Storages jumped by 1% in the past week, due to runoff and the addition of 10.5 billion litres held in Lake Eildon for Melbourne.
As of 1 July, water in Lake Eildon allocated to Melbourne will be included in our total storage figure.
This change is designed to better reflect Melbourne’s total water resources.
This 10.5 billion litre jump came on top of a 9.3 billion net increase added to Melbourne’s dams on the back of rainfall.
The major catchments received between 11 and 55.8mm of rain during the week, with an average of 28.5mm.
This was 8% below the long-term average for the period, 31mm.
The 10.3 billion litres of stream flow that entered the major reservoirs was 14% below the average of 12 billion litres.
Storages are now 34.3% (621.9 billion litres) full, compared with 26.0% (470.6 billion litres) at the same time last year – a difference of 151.3 billion litres.
Residential water use was a miserly 127 litres per person per day - 28 litres below Target 155. This is the 16th week in a row that we have met the target.
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 3 restrictions and Target 155 are currently in place.
Storages hit five month high
Higher than average rainfall and continued low water use saw storages climb to 35% this week.
Storages jumped 0.4% in the past week, gaining almost 6 billion litres.
The major catchments received between 30 and 68mm of rain during the week, with an average of 39mm.
This was 85% above the long-term average rainfall for the period of 21mm.
Despite the good rainfall, the 10 billion litres of streamflow that ran into the reservoirs was 24% below the average of 13 billion litres.
Storages are now 35.0% (633 billion litres) full, compared with 26.8% (485 billion litres) at the same time last year – a difference of almost 150 billion litres.
Melbourne households continued their water wise ways, keeping residential consumption to 135 litres per person per day.
This is 20 litres below Target 155, and the 18th week in a row that Melburnians have come in under the target.
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 3 restrictions and Target 155 are currently in place.
30-billion-litre boost in week of milestones
Melbourne’s water storages topped 700 billion litres for the first time in almost three years as storages increased by 1.7% of capacity in the past week.
In a week of milestones, the dams are now holding over 200 billion litres more water than at the same time last year.
This week also saw the restart of the Sugarloaf Pipeline following its annual shutdown period, transferring 0.8 billion litres from Lake Eildon into Sugarloaf Reservoir.
The weekly storage rise – the biggest of the year - represents a net gain of 30 billion litres, and came as the major catchments received between 25 and 57mm of rain (average of 33mm).
With the week’s falls hitting fairly wet catchments, a lot of the rain made its way into the major reservoirs.
The 29 billion litres of streamflow was 49% above the 30-year average.
Storages are now 39.2% (710 billion litres) full, compared with 27.7% (501.7 billion litres) at the same time last year.
Melburnians used a daily average of 132 litres each – the 22nd week in a row we’ve been below Target 155. In fact, daily average residential water use has not exceeded 140 litres each since April.
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 3 restrictions and Target 155 are currently in place.
Dams increased 20000ML in the last 2 days!! Storages up to 43.5%. After being told they would never rise again with rainfall here we are. Desal plant is under water. Dams will be filled when the Desal is turned on and our water prices will rise further lol!
TEMPORARY FLOOD CONDITIONS BOOST WATER SECURITY
Recent rain is delivering a major boost to Melbourne’s water security ahead of summer.
Manager of Water Supply, John Woodland, said more than 42 billion litres had been added to storages in the past week - enough to supply the city for about 40 days.
"This is a rare return to form for our network of 10 dams, given they’ve spent the past decade with inflows much lower than assumed when they were built," said Mr Woodland.
"Events like this reinforce the important role dams continue to have in our system, but also remind us that we don’t want to rely solely on record-breaking weather events for water security."
Mr Woodland said the city’s largest dam, the Thomson, was benefiting most from the wet weather, rising by 22 billion litres since 1 September.
"This is putting us in a much stronger position ahead of warmer weather when we know dam levels will drop," added Mr Woodland.
The Thomson reached an all-time low of 16% in June 2009 but is now approaching 30% full for the first time since October 2006.
In June, Melbourne Water announced it was shifting water between its 10 reservoirs to make room for winter and spring rains. This included transferring more water into Sugarloaf Reservoir, which receives water from the Yarra River, Maroondah Reservoir and Sugarloaf Pipeline.
"To help make the most of the exceptional inflows we’re seeing from the Yarra catchment, we’re temporarily suspending flows from the Sugarloaf Pipeline," added Mr Woodland.
"We’ll keep this water in Lake Eildon and bring it down the pipeline later in the year, so that we continue to strengthen Melbourne’s water security ahead of summer.
"This is exactly the kind of flexibility we’ve been working to create - the ability to juggle supply sources depending on what’s happening with the climate.
"Floods are temporary and the past decade has taught us it’s too risky to rely on dams alone. Water security isn’t something we can afford to have a short memory about and it’s why the Sugarloaf Pipeline and desalination plant are so important."
Melbourne’s 10 dams are 43.5% full compared with 28.9% at the same time last year - a difference of 265 billion litres.
Well what did you expect them to say, they were told by experts that global warming had caused long and more severe droughts and almost no rainfall ever again. Maybe if experts used their brains a little and expanded outside their own ego, they can see that man has no influence on the Earths climate. And so here we are under water and our longest stretch of cold weather in 18 years, as i forecast in January.
But thats what the collaboration was told, so they decided to use taxpayers money to build a desal plant thats under flood for the best part of 4 months now.
In the meantime, we have had an enormous amount of rain that we were told wouldnt never happen and how embarrasment for the govt when our storages hit yearly highs over and over again this summer.
The best part is the fresh snow this coming week as a top up again, which will yet again provide monster run off in October. Im thinking 60% by summer is feasible.
I've just posted a bit of this in the Lake Eildon thread, but this chart from GM Water shows storage levels for this year in comparison to last year and makes for an interesting read http://www.g-mwater.com.au/news/media-r ... nfall.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
just checked the CFA website to see if the bushfires are under control around the Upper yarra....must be scorching heat up there, im so glad i dont live there. Would be a nightmare to live in that heat.
With only 80mm falling there in the last 48 hours, we might need to get Elvis out and dump some water to save the Mountain Ash. And with only a drop of 1000mm in the last 12 months translating into a 30% drop in the dam levels im afraid we need an inland tsunami event and 600mm in 2 days to overcome the scathing heat and subsequent water deficiences.
Very interesting article from the Channel 7 weatherman David Brown in the weather section of Herald sun today, it basically explains why the Thompson Dams water storages have not risen significantly in the past few months even with the generous rainfall recorded around that part of Victoria. What are everyone's thoughts, any of his reasonings justified?