The Monthly Water Report provides a statewide monthly summary of the status of water resources and water supplies. Each month's report is published online towards the end of the following month. It is based on data provided by the State’s 20 urban and rural water corporations.

Rainfall

A succession of East Coast Lows in the second half of the month were responsible for well above average rainfall in east and west Gippsland during June, resulting in most rivers in this region approaching record flood levels. In contrast, below average falls were recorded in Northern Country, South Gippsland, Wimmera, Mallee and Northeast districts. Average rainfall was recorded in Central and Western districts. The mean daily maximum temperature for Victoria was 0.8°C below the long-term June average. Melbourne received 45.0mm of rain during the month, which is on par with the long-term average of 42.5mm.

Streamflows

As a result of the above average rainfalls, a number of catchments in Victoria’s southeast experienced flood conditions at the end of the month, recording flows as high as 900% of the long-term June average. Victoria’s southwest coast and northeast experienced streamflows up to the long-term average, while streamflows continued at drought levels in the Mallee, south Gippsland and Central and north Central Victoria.

Storage Levels

Volumes in the major storages in Victoria increased by 4.6% in June to be at 18.0% of capacity. Melbourne Water's storages increased by 2.2%, to finish the month at 31.0% of capacity, whilst Rural Water Authority storages increased by 5.0%, to finish the month at 15.6% of capacity. Storages in the Glenelg-Wimmera Basin rose to 5.6% of capacity, Lake Eildon rose to be at 10.8% of capacity and Rosslynne Reservoir increased slightly to 4.2% of capacity.

At the end of May 2007, levels were below average and falling for most of the key groundwater management areas in the State.

Urban Water Restrictions

A number of key changes to towns on restrictions took effect during June 2007. North East Water, Goulburn Valley Water, East Gippsland Water, Gippsland Water and South Gippsland Water reduced restrictions from Stage 4 to Stage 3 for a number of urban systems. In contrast, restrictions were increased to Stage 3 for a number of towns from the Murray and Goulburn systems. The total number of towns subject to water restrictions as at 30 June 2007 was 457. Twenty-two towns were on Stage 1, 47 on Stage 2, 156 on Stage 3, 18 on Stage 3a and 214 on Stage 4 restrictions.

Irrigation Allocations

The irrigation season for Goulburn-Murray Water’s gravity irrigation system customers closed on 30 April 2007. Goulburn-Murray Water released its latest outlook for the 2007/08 irrigation season on 15 May and will provide the first allocation announcements for the 2007/08 season on 2 July 2007. G-MW has advised that carry-over water will be available in July. It is likely that initial allocations will be 0%, so carryover will be important for meeting early irrigation needs. In light of a likely 0% allocation, the Minister has temporarily qualified rights to water for selected purposes in the Murray, Goulburn, Broken, Campaspe, Loddon and Bullarook systems.

Southern Rural Water’s (SRW) 2006/07 water season ended on 30 June 2007. In the south-west of the State, allocations remained at 10% for the Bacchus Marsh and Werribee Irrigation Districts. Levels in the Deutgam Groundwater Management Area have continued to decline. To protect the resource from seawater intrusion, SRW qualified and suspended rights from 27 June 2007. The allocation for SRW diverters downstream of Rosslynne reservoir remained at 5%.

Restrictions on Diversions

In the south-east of the State, Blue Rock Lake increased to 57.5% of capacity. SRW licence holders downstream were permitted to take up to their licence volume, but availability was limited by low unregulated river flows. Lake Glenmaggie, which supplies the Thomson-Macalister Irrigation District (MID), increased to 100% of capacity during June. The irrigation season ended on 15 May 2007 for MID diverters with a total allocation of 60% of Licensed Volume, Water Right and Domestic and Stock. The 2007/08 irrigation season will open on 15 August 2007 with an opening allocation of 100%. SRW are yet to announce initial allocations for the Werribee, Bacchus Marsh and Latrobe systems.

Changes in restrictions on unregulated streams reflected the improvement in streamflows over the past two months in the southwest and east of the State. At the end of June, diversions from a total of 149 streams across Victoria were subject to some form of restriction. This compares to 207 streams at the end of May 2007.

Seasonal Climate Outlook

The Bureau of Meteorology reports no strong swings towards above or below normal rainfall in Victoria over the next three months. After stalling for about a month, there are renewed signs from the Pacific Ocean that are consistent with early stages of a La Niña event. If this occurs, subsequent climate outlooks are likely to indicate increased chances of above average rainfall over eastern Australia.