Solid winter rainfall has meant Coliban Water’s catchments are in a strong position leading into spring.
Executive General Manager Climate and Population Adaptation Steve Healy said the storages received 40 gigalitres of inflows during winter.
“That’s around double what we would normally expect over this period. In July alone, we received 111 millimetres of rainfall at the Malmsbury Reservoir.
“Our total winter rainfall was 240 millimetres, 36 millimetres more than last year and close to the long-term average,” Mr Healy said.
“We are holding around 19 gigalitres more in storage than we were for the same time last year, and the outlook is favourable for the months ahead.
Coliban Water’s reservoirs began spilling in July, the earliest they have spilled in almost a decade.
“Our storages were sitting at 69 per cent capacity at the start of winter. At the end of winter, they are at 100 percent capacity, this is a great sign of the rain and inflows we’ve experienced,” he said.
The solid winter inflows have allowed the organisation to announce 100 percent allocations in the Coliban Water rural system for the 11th year in a row.
Once the season opens in the late spring, Coliban Water’s 1,362 rural customers will have access to their full licence water volume for their property, which is supplied by 504 kilometres of rural channels and pipelines.
But the organisation is reminding customers not to become complacent as we continue to face the challenges of climate and population change.
“Permanent Water Saving Rules are in place across our region and everything we do to conserve water – even in the cooler months – helps overall water security.
For more information on water security, saving water, Permanent Water Saving Rules and our rural season, see our website www.coliban.com.au