Melbourne
1.1 Storages

Supporting information

The volume presented in the water accounting statements (582,979 ML) represents the volume of water held in surface water storages in the Melbourne region at the end of the 2012–13 year.

The volume presented is the sum of the volume held in water storages that have a total storage capacity over 1,000 ML, including the volume of dead storage. The following table presents a breakdown of individual storages in the Melbourne Region.

Water Storages

Storage operator

Storage

Total storage capacity (ML)

Dead storage (ML)

Storage volume at 30 June 2013 (ML)

Storage volume at 30 June 2012 (ML)

Melbourne Water

Cardinia Reservoir

288,964

2,053

210,969

219,792

Greenvale Reservoir

27,501

662

20,774

21,618

Maroondah Reservoir

28,233

6,054

13,358

28,474

O'Shannassy Reservoir

3,123

n/a

2,339

3,208

Silvan Reservoir

40,581

136

33,282

36,447

Sugarloaf Reservoir

99,222

2,969

71,553

96,835

Tarago Reservoir

37,580

n/a

31,355

22,434

Upper Yarra Reservoir

204,985

4,406

101,130

148,319

Yan Yean Reservoir

33,125

2,859

29,605

30,307

Southern Rural Water

Melton Reservoir

14,360

140

2,897

13,992

Merrimu Reservoir

32,215

335

26,910

25,158

Pykes Creek Reservoir

22,119

1,770

17,092

21,637

Rosslynne Reservoir

25,400

150

21,715

18,409

Total

857,408

21,534

582,979

686,630

Thomson Reservoir is not included in the storages as it is located outside of the Melbourne region boundary. Thompson Reservoir is an important water reservoir for the region as Melbourne Water holds bulk entitlement to a share of the storage in the Thomson Reservoir for the three urban water water utilities for the region. Information on Inter-region claim on water is presented in Line Items 1.5 Inter–region claim on water and 9.15 Increase of inter–region claim on water.

Quantification approach

Data source

Australian Water Resources Information System (AWRIS)—Water storages.

Provided by

Bureau of Meteorology.

Method

Storage volume at the start and end of the year was calculated using water level data (metres above Australian Height Datum) collected at each storage. The height measurement was converted to a volume using the storage-volume curve(s) provided by the managing authority.

Storage capacity was calculated using the full supply level, and converting it to a volume using the storage volume curve(s) provided by the managing authority.

Assumptions, limitations, caveats and approximations

  • Storage-volume curves represent specifically surveyed parts of the water storage, and may not reflect the storage-volume relationship across the entire storage.

  • Water storages are subject to sedimentation and other physical changes over time, which in turn affect the accuracy of the storage-volume curves.

  • Storage capacity may differ from those published on the Water storages page of the Southern Rural Water website due to rounding and uncertainty in the true values.

Uncertainty information

The uncertainty estimate was not quantified.