Rainfall up, but dam levels down

By Kath Gannaway
MAIL rainfall recorders Keith Thomas and Alma Mitchell are not complaining about their increased May workload. Mr Thomas recorded 139.5mm at Warburton and Ms Mitchell caught 86.2mm in her gauge at Healesville.
“Our average for May is 117.9, so the deluge was very welcome,” Mr Thomas said.
In Healesville, 18 rainy days brought an 11.3mm increase on last year’s May drop.
“The 18th, with 27mm, and 30th, with 24mm, were especially good,” Ms Mitchell said.
While averages are up, Melbourne’s water storages continue to go down.
Mr Thomas’s records show the first five months of the year have yielded only three-quarters of the average 458.7mm of rain and he says the dams are in a sad state, holding only 509,921 megalitres (ML), or 38.8 per cent of capacity.
At the same time last year the dams were at 49.2 per cent.
Figures from Melbourne Water show that the Upper Yarra dam is at 41.4 per cent of its available 200,000ML capacity, while Maroondah is holding 34.7 per cent of its potential 22,000ML. The Thompson is just 17.4 per cent full, holding 185,499ML of its 1,068,000ML capacity.
On the credit side, Melbourne Water says Melburnians are continuing to do their bit, with consumption again well below the 1990s autumn figure and the past five-year average. About 956 millions litres a day were used during the last week of May.