Current water snapshot

The status of the state’s water resources across various categories, including storage levels, rainfall and seasonal outlooks.

Water Storage levels

• Melbourne Water storage levels

* Victoria has a 50% share of inflows to Dartmouth and in Hume

• Goulburn-Murray Water storage levels
• Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water storage levels

** Werribee Basin storage value is the combined volume of the Melton, Merrimu and Pykes reservoirs

• Barwon Water storage levels
• Central Highlands Water storage levels
• Coliban Water storage levels
• Gippsland Water storage levels
• South Gippsland Water storage levels
• Westernport Water storage levels

Monthly storage levels

As of the end of August 2023:

• Regional storages were 94.2% full
  • 2.1% higher than the previous month (92.1%)
• Melbourne storages were 92.1% full.
  • 0.3% lower than the previous month (92.4%)
• Total Victorian storages were 93.9% full.
  • 1.8% higher than the previous month (92.1%)

Download the monthly dataset

Updated 21 September 2023. The next update is mid-October 2023.

Regional, Melbourne and all Victoria monthly storage levels

Bureau of Meteorology rainfall maps

On the Bureau of Meteorology websites, view

• map of rainfall received in the past 7 days
• map of total rainfall received month to date

28 September 2023

• There is a moderate chance (30-40%) that November to January rainfall will exceed median rainfall in Glenelg Shire, the Mallee, central northern Victoria to South Gippsland and parts of East Gippsland. There is a low chance (20-30%) of exceeding the median rainfall during this period across the rest of the state.
• Maximum daily temperature in November to January is very likely (>80%) to be above the median for the majority of Victoria, with a slightly lower chance (70-80%) between Portland to the Otway region and the Yarra ranges to Wonthaggi.
• Minimum daily temperature in November to January is also very likely to be above the median (>80%), across eastern Victoria. There is a likely chance (60-80%) of minimum temperatures exceeding the median across the rest of the state.
• The next update is expected on 5 October 2023.

26 September 2023

• An El Niño and positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) have been declared and are underway. The concurrence of these events over spring lead to predictions of warmer and drier conditions for much of Australia over the next 3 months.
• Oceanic indicators firmly exhibit an El Niño state. Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the central and eastern Pacific are continuing to exceed El Niño thresholds. Models indicate this is likely to continue through to at least the end of February 2024.
• The 90-day Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) is reflecting El Niño. Trade wind strength has weakened over the past week in the far western Pacific, but is close to normal elsewhere. Overall, there are signs of coupling between the Pacific Ocean and the atmosphere. This coupling is a characteristic of an El Niño event and is what strengthens and sustains an event for an extended period. El Niño typically leads to reduced spring rainfall for eastern Australia.
• The latest weekly IOD index of +1.45°C is above the positive IOD threshold (+0.04°C) for the sixth consecutive week. The longevity of the trend and recent high values (above +1.0 °C) indicate a positive IOD event is underway. All models indicate that this positive IOD will be sustained to at least the end of spring. A positive IOD typically decreases spring rainfall for central and south-east Australia and can increase the drying influence of El Niño.
• The next update is expected on 10 October 2023.

Current urban restrictions

As at 28 September 2023, there were no towns on restrictions, with permanent water saving rules in place across Victoria.

Urban water corporations publish water restrictions on their websites.

Find your urban water corporation.

Monthly urban restrictions - 2010 to 2023

As at the end of August 2023 permanent water saving rules were in place across Victoria, with no towns on urban restrictions at any time during the month. The last time urban restrictions were in place was in June 2020, when 20 towns were on stage 1 restrictions.

The graph and data below are updated at the end of each month.

Updated 31 August 2023. The next update is in early October 2023.

Graph of total number of towns on urban restrictions from January 2010 to August 2023

Stream restrictions

End-of-month stream restrictions - 2010 to 2023

As at the end of September 2023, there were 18 streams with restrictions or bans on licensed diversions across Victoria - 6 more than at the end of August.

• Goulburn-Murray Water – 5 streams on rosters or restrictions (5 in August)
• Southern Rural Water – 6 streams on rosters or restrictions (3 in August)
• Melbourne Water – 7 streams restricted or banned (4 in August)
• GWMW - diversion triggers have been met for 2023-2024
  • Wimmera River diverters below Glenorchy weir are permitted to take 100% of their licensed volume as of 1 August 2023
  • Avoca River diverters below Charlton weir are permitted to take as of 6 July 2023

The graph and data below are as at the end of each month.

Updated 28 September 2023. The next update is late October 2023.

Graph of total number of unregulated streams restricted from January 2010 to September 2023

Quarterly groundwater level trend summary

Groundwater level trend update

1 April to 30 June 2023 quarter.

Groundwater level trends in groundwater management units (GMUs) are reported quarterly. Groundwater level trends for GMUs have been determined based on 5 years (short-term) or 10 years (long-term) consistent monitoring data from key bores in the State Observation Bore Network (SOBN).

There are 2 categories of GMUs:

• Groundwater management areas (GMAs)
• Water supply protection areas (WSPAs)

Updated 4 August 2023 The next update October/November 2023 (for July to September 2023 quarter).

Short and long term groundwater level trend maps

Seasonal determinations and allocations

Seasonal determinations are made against water shares to provide allocations in declared systems. These can be for high reliability (HRWS) or low reliability (LRWS) water shares. In northern Victoria, Goulburn-Murray Water makes the seasonal determinations in the relevant systems, while Southern Rural Water makes the seasonal determinations in the Thomson/Macalister and Bacchus Marsh/Werribee systems.

In the Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water area, resource assessments are undertaken every month to determine the amount of water that can be made available to entitlement holders. These monthly assessments result in a formal announcement on water allocations.

Coliban Water assesses seasonal allocations for customers on its rural network based on available resources in the Coliban System.

Goulburn-Murray Water

Southern Rural Water

Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water

Coliban Water

Page last updated: 28/09/23