Metro weekly water update 30 Nov 18

	Target	Actual
November water use to date	25 billion litres	26 billion litres
Dam storage levels	N/A	57 per cent
Cumulative streamflow into dams	165 billion litres (Post 1975 May to October average)	143 billion litres
November rainfall to date	23.2 mm (November mean rainfall 1994-2017)   22.4mm (November average rainfall 1876-2016)	3.2 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 daily water use over the last week was 886 million litres, which was below the forecast of 900 million litres. 

 

Since 1 July 2018, we have used 104 billion litres of water - this is 6 billion litres above what we had forecast for this period.  While we have been more ambitious in our forecast this year, water use is still about 1 billion litres greater than the same period last year.

 

Dam level (total for 15 dams)

 

The dam storage level has remained steady over the last week at 57 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 should therefore not be used as a single measure to represent the true water supply situation for Perth.

 

Streamflow (total for 15 dams)

 

From 1 May 2018 to 29 November 2018 the dams have received 143 billion litres of streamflow.  The post-1975 average for the May to November period is 174 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 100 warnings and 86 fines this week.  Since 1 January 2018, we have taken a total of 7822 actions (warnings + fines) compared with 9093 actions for the same period in 2017.

 

Annual rainfall

 

Perth has received 740 mm of rainfall since January this year.  The cumulative average rainfall for January to December is 732.8 mm.

 

General water news

 

The Bureau of Meteorology yesterday issued its Climate outlook for the December to February period – this is available at http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/outlooks/#/overview/summary

 

The outlook indicated large parts of WA, Queensland and the Top End of the NT are likely to be drier than average.  Warmer than average days and nights are likely for almost all of Australia for December to February.

 

We’re set to get a taste of what’s to come with temperatures forecast to reach 36 degrees on Tuesday.   So why not get ahead of the heat and prep the garden this weekend – it could be your last chance to get stuck into it without becoming all hot and bothered.

 

This page on our website is the right place to go to get all the best waterwise ideas to prepare your garden for summer https://www.watercorporation.com.au/save-water/in-the-garden