Table showing target and actual water use, dam levels, streamflow and rainfall
  Target Actual
January water use to date 33 billion litres 32 billion litres
Dam storage levels NA 46%
Weekly streamflow into dams NA 44 billion litres
January rainfall to date 16.7mm (Jan average rainfall 1994-2017) 3.0mm
Note: 1 billion litres = approximately 400 Olympic swimming pools. Please note the figures in this table are rounded (except for rainfall) to the nearest whole number.
 

Water use

Average water use over the past week was 1044 million litres per day, which was below the forecast of 1,050 million litres.

Daily water use for the last 5 days

Table showing daily water use for the last 5 days
Date Actual water use (million litres) Forecast water use (million litres)
31/01/2020 957 1048
30/01/2020 1023 1048
29/01/2020 1053 1048
28/01/2020 1145 1048
27/12/2020 1058 1051
Note, water use is calculated up to 8am each day for the previous 24 hour period.

Since 1 July 2019, we have used 172.7 billion litres of water – which is around 6 billion litres over the forecast for this period

Dam level (total for 15 dams)

The dam storage levels have dropped slightly this week and are sitting at a combined 45.9 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). As we use many different sources of water, dams are no longer an accurate indicator of the health of Perth's overall water supply situation.

Streamflow (total for 15 dams)

From 1 May 2019 the dams have received 44.1 billion litres of streamflow. The post-1975 average for the May to April period (called the streamflow year) is 183.9 billion litres.

Sprinkler roster compliance

The two-day a week sprinkler roster now applies. Since 1 January 2020, we have taken a total of 863 actions (warnings + fines) compared with 875 actions for the same period in 2019.

Annual rainfall

Perth has received 3.00 mm of rainfall since 1 January 2019. The average (1994-2017) rainfall for the January period is 16.7 mm.

General water news

Tomorrow marks the start of February and the Noongar second summer. In aboriginal weather knowledge this is the hottest part of the year with little to no rain.

If you're interested in learning more about the Noongar seasons, the Bureau of Meteorology has some useful information online Noongar calendar

It’s a great reminder that we still have plenty of hot days ahead of us, and while we realise it’s not always easy to make water savings at this time of year when gardens are extra thirsty, we can still be waterwise.

For advice on how to make the most of the water you use in the garden in summer visit our website.


Media Enquiries:

Contact: Clare Lugar

Position: Manager Media and Strategic Communications

Phone: (08) 9420 2555