17 September: disaster-fears as Melbourne’s water storages 38.9 per cent of capacity, 8 percentage points below the 46.6 per cent level of September 2006

Melbourne’s water storages were at 38.9 per cent of capacity nearly 8 percentage points below the 46.6 per cent level of September 2006. Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu seized on the figures, warn­ing that Melburnians should not think the worst was behind them. One option to can­cel 20 billion litres of environ­ment flows for the Thomson and Yarra rivers. This represents three or four weeks of average consumption for the city of Melbourne.

Things may get worse: “No one should think the recent rains should solve the problem we have in Victoria, and the lack of investment, lack of action has led to this situation.” In June, the Government announced plans to secure Mel­bourne’s water supplies by build­ing a desalination plant by 2011 and a pipeline from the Goulburn Valley to Melbourne by 2010.

No back up plan for worst case: Baillieu said there was a dearth of contingency plans for the interim. The only plans we have are plans which don’t come into place until 2010 or 2011.” But Holding said Baillieu was fearmongering, and the Government had several pos­sibilities for the summer ahead.

The Age, 14/9/2007, p. 4