WATER RESOURCES
At the end of March 2010, Victoria's water storages were at 25.8% of their capacity at full service level of 14,020 GL. This was 0.7 percentage points lower than the level in February 2010, and 9.7 percentage points higher than in March 2009.
Melbourne's water storage level at the end of March 2010 was 34.0% of capacity. This was 0.9 percentage points lower than in February 2010 and 4.9 percentage points higher than in March 2009. Rural water storages held 26.1% of their capacity at the end of March 2010, 1.0 percentage points lower than in February 2010, and 10.3 percentage points higher than the level in March 2009.
Between March 2009 and March 2010, the volume of water held in rural water storages increased by 58.5%. Lake Eildon in the Goulburn basin captured 44.7% of this increase, with a further 40.6% of the increase being in Murray basin storages. Just under three-quarters (73.9%) of the storage capacity at full service level of Victoria's rural water storages (9,396 GL) is represented by Lake Eildon (3,390 GL) and the state's share of Murray basin storages (3,557 GL). From March 2009 to March 2010, the volume of water in Lake Eildon increased from 13.1% of capacity to 25.0%.
The total capacity of the state's storages reduced by 365 GL in April 2009 following the decommissioning of Lake Mokoan, while 38 GL was added to full capacity in June 2009 when the Tarago Reservoir was added to the Melbourne supply system. A summary of changes to total storage capacity since December 2004 can be found in paragraph 19 of the Explanatory Notes.
Water storage volumes, Per cent of capacity(a)
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Water storage levels, By River Basin from the
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