Metro region weeky water update for 7 September 2017

• September water use is 4.1 billion litres versus a target of 4.2 billion litres.  

   

• Dam storage levels are 42.3%.

   

• Flow into dams – 66.4 billion litres of streamflow since 1 May 2017. 

   

• September rainfall – 12.2mm to date.  Average rainfall for September is 81.3mm.

   

Streamflow to dams continues to slow during the first week of Spring

It doesn’t take much for the streamflow into our dams to slow down, and with a few warmer and sunnier days that’s exactly what’s happening right now.

Perth’s dam storage levels increased from 41.8% to 42.3% (0.5 percentage points) over the last seven days.  Our dams received about 2.4 billion litres of inflow from streams this week, which brings the total to 66.4 billion litres since 1 May 2017.  The post-1975 average for annual streamflow is 189 billion litres.   The average for the last five years is about 50 billion litres.

The Integrated Water Supply Scheme delivers water to Perth, parts of the south west, Agricultural and Goldfields regions.  More than two million people are connected to the Scheme who together used an average of 589 million litres of water per day last week.  This is below what we would forecast for this time of year (593 million litres per day).   

Financial year to date water use (39 billion litres) is still slightly more than the 38.8 billion litres we had forecasted. 

The two-day-per week Sprinkler roster now applies but we strongly recommend keeping them switched off throughout early Spring. This is because the cooler temperatures, occasional rain and good soil moisture should be enough to keep gardens healthy.  In total this week our inspectors issued 29 warnings and 44 fines in the metro region.  This is compared to 139 warnings and 51 fines last week.    

The annual rainfall total since 1 January is 701.40mm. While it may feel like it’s been a wetter than normal year so far, the average is 759.4mm (January to September).

Don’t forget to check out our new Dam Cam https://www.watercorporation.com.au/water-supply/our-water-sources/dams/dam-cam