Metro water update 23 March 2019

	Target	Actual
March water use to date	19 billion litres	19 billion litres
Dam storage levels	N/A	48 per cent
Cumulative streamflow into dams	185 billion litres (Post 1975 May to March average)	151 billion litres
March rainfall to date	21 mm (March mean rainfall 1994-2017)   19.5 mm (March average rainfall 1876-2016)	5.6 mm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: 1 billion litres = approx. 400 Olympic swimming pools.  Please note these figures are rounded (except for rainfall) to the nearest whole number.

 

Water use

 

Average water use over the last week was 962,000,000 litres per day, which was above the forecast of 931,000,000 litres.

 

Daily water use for the last five days
Date	Actual water use – litres	Forecast – litres
Friday, 15 March 2019	950,000,000	918,000,000
Thursday, 14 March 2019	957,000,000	918,000,000
Wednesday, 13 March 2019	958,000,000	918,000,000
Tuesday, 12 March 2019	969,000,000	918,000,000
Monday, 11 March 2019	1,032,000,000	946,000,000

 

Note: water use above is calculated up to 8am each day for the previous 24 hour period

 

Since 1 July 2018, we have used 212 billion litres of water - this is about 3 billion litres above what we had forecast for this period. 

 

Dam level (total for 15 dams)

The dam storage level has not changed over the past week and is sitting at 48 per cent* of full capacity.

 

*Please note some dams are filled from different sources - dam levels include the transfer of groundwater and desalinated seawater from treatment plants as well as streamflow (that comes from rainfall).  Dam levels are no longer an accurate indicator of the health of Perth's overall water supply situation.

 

Streamflow (total for 15 dams)

 

From 1 May 2018 to 21 March 2019 the dams had received 151 billion litres of streamflow.  The post-1975 average for the May to March period is 185 billion litres.

 

Sprinkler roster compliance

 

The two-day-a-week sprinkler roster now applies across Perth, so make sure your sprinklers are programmed for your rostered water days and only to come on once, either before 9am or after 6pm.

 

Our team of inspectors issued 101 warnings and 72 fines this week.  Since 1 January 2019, we have taken a total of 2418 actions (warnings + fines) compared with 2509 actions for the same period in 2018.

 

Annual rainfall

 

Perth has received 13 mm of rainfall since 1 January 2019.  Average rainfall for this period (1994-2017) is 50.7 mm.

 

General water news

 

Head to Yagan Square this weekend for something exciting with the inner city site playing host to a three-day cultural and entertainment festival to mark the Noongar season of Bunuru.

The free family event boasts live music, kids’ activities, Aboriginal dance and boutique market stalls from 11am each day.

The Bunuru season (second summer), which runs from February to March, signifies the hottest of the six seasons in the Noongar calendar and is well-known for its freshwater foods.