The Monthly Water Report provides a summary of the status of Victoria's water resources and water supplies at the end of the reporting month. It is based on validated water resource information provided by Victoria's 19 Urban and Rural Water Corporations and the Bureau of Meteorology. Each month's report is published online the following month. For detailed, specific and up-to-date information, please contact the relevant Water Corporation or the Bureau of Meteorology. Links to these organisations are located within the Monthly Water Report. 

Rainfall

For parts of northern and south-western Victoria, October rainfall was below average.  However rainfall was above average for Gippsland and areas west of Melbourne and average for the remainder of the State. 

Streamflow

Streamflows in across the State continued to diminish with below average rainfall and above average daily maximum temperatures experienced during October.  The majority of gauging stations recorded flows below 59% of the October long-term average at the end of the month, and no stations recorded flows above 80% of the October average.

Storages

The total volume of water in most of Victoria’s major storages increased marginally during October.  By the end of October, Victoria’s major storages had risen to 88.1% of total capacity.  The total volume of water in Victoria’s major regional storages increased to 92.3% and Melbourne’s storage levels rose to 63.5%.

Restrictions on Urban Water Supplies

During October, Barwon Water introduced Stage 2 restrictions for Apollo Bay, Skenes Creek and Marengo.

At the end of the month, 29 Victorian towns were still on restrictions.  This is much less than this time last year, when 154 towns were still subject to water restrictions.

Irrigation Allocations

Allocations on all northern systems increased during October, except the Bullarook system which has already reached the maximum allocation for both high-reliability water shares (HRWS) and low-reliability water shares (LRWS) for 2011/12.  The HRWS allocation on the Goulburn and Loddon systems finished the month at 100%, the Murray at 86%, and the Broken at 100%.  The allocation for LRWS was increased to 100% on the Campaspe and 10% on the Broken.

In the southern irrigation districts, the LRWS allocation for Werribee and Bacchus Marsh was increased to 25% during October.  The allocation for Macalister will remain at 90% until the end of the spilling period in December.

Restrictions on Unregulated Streams

Only one unregulated stream across the State is subject to restrictions at the end of October.  This is less than the same time last year when 12 streams were still subject to some form of restriction on diversions.

Seasonal Climate Outlook

The Bureau of Meteorology’s latest rainfall outlook for November to January 2011 indicates neutral odds for above average rainfall across Victoria.

The Bureau reports that ENSO conditions in the central Pacific Ocean are consistent with a late-developing La Niña event.  However, it appears that the event will be weaker than that of 2010/11