Frequently Asked Questions

Click or tap a question to expand the answer.

How can I find a storage I am interested in?
Find a storage in one of three ways:
  1. Click on search bar and enter the name of the storage. Click on link when it is identified.
  2. Click on menu icon and select State or city from the list. Choose your relevant State or city to find your water storage.
  3. Click on the States, City or Drainage division bar below the home page graph. Choose the relevant option for your storage. It will take you to the State, City or Drainage Division page and give you an option of cities and systems or water storages. Choose the relevant option for your storage to see a list of storages for that region.
What do the red and green arrows mean?
A red arrow indicates the storage volumes have decreased, whereas a green arrow indicates an increase. Clicking on the Details button shows the change in water availability since yesterday, 7 days ago, 30 days ago and 1 year ago.
I have used the search function and still can't find the particular storage I am looking for?
This app includes publicly-owned water storages that can hold at least 1000 ML (1 GL) of water. The app currently includes storages which are associated with capital cities and key supply systems, as well as States and drainage divisions.
If you can't see the storage you are looking for, click on the search bar and type the name of the storage or supply region in the box, it will come up in a list of relevant storages.
Why are the Bureau's water storage levels or volume different to other published sources?
The Bureau receives data from water authorities and agencies around the country. Some of these organisations also publish the data on their own websites.
Water storage levels and capacities provided by the Bureau represent accessible volumes. Although we rely on the same base information, the water levels, volumes and percentages published elsewhere may present different information. Please see the Bureau of Meteorology's www.bom.gov.au/water/dashboards for more information on the differences.
If you would like more information on how we calculate accessible volumes please let us know via feedback.
How often is information updated?
The Bureau receives data at varying frequencies (by the minute, hour, day, and week). We update the page as soon as new data has been received, checked and processed.
How are the percentages calculated?
To calculate the latest percentage full we take the latest volume for a storage or place and divide it by the accessible capacity.
The per cent change is the change in volume as a percentage and is equal to the difference between the latest and previous year volume, divided by the latest accessible capacity. This is the same as the per cent change seen on the graph.
Litres, megalitres and gigalitres?
Water storage capacity is usually measured in megalitres (ML) or gigalitres (GL). One megalitre (ML) is equivalent to 1,000,000 litres. It would fit in a container 10m high, 10m long and 10m wide and it weighs 1000 metric tonnes. A standard Olympic-sized swimming pool measuring 50m long and 25m wide, contains 2.5 ML or 2.5 million litres of water. One gigalitre (GL) equals 1,000,000,000 litres or 1,000 ML.
Lake Gordon's capacity is 12,362 GL, which is approximately equal to 4,459,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools or 22 Sydney Harbours.