How We're Fixing it
A city of 3.8 million people needs a secure water supply. Against the backdrop of drought and climate change, this means having different sources to deliver 240 billion litres of extra water by 2012.
We are working with the Victorian Government and water retailers on 3 major water supply projects for Melbourne.
It's also critical that everyone continues to save water and reduce demand.
Major water supply projects for Melbourne
Reconnection of Tarago Reservoir
The Tarago Reservoir was reconnected to Melbourne’s water supply network on 24 June 2009. It is the first of the Victorian Government's 3 major projects to be delivered.
The reservoir will supply up to 15 billion litres of water a year to customers in Mornington Peninsula and the Westernport region.
Sugarloaf Pipeline Project
The Sugarloaf Pipeline will deliver Melbourne’s share of water savings. $1 billion is being invested in improvements to the Food Bowl irrigation in northern Victoria, producing savings of up to 225 billion litres a year through reduction in seepage and system losses. These water savings will be shared equally between irrigators, the environment, and Melbourne (up to 75 billion litres a year).
Wonthaggi desalination plant
A major desalination plant is planned for development in the Wonthaggi region to supply up to 150 billion litres of water a year to Melbourne, Geelong and, via other connections, South Gippsland and Western Port towns.
It will be capable of providing around a third of Melbourne's annual water supply from a source that is independent of rainfall.
The construction of the plant is under the direction of the Department of Sustainability and Environment.
Water savings and restrictions
Melburnians have done a brilliant job of saving water.
Households and industry now use a third less than they did in the 1990s (people have saved more than 380 billion litres since 2002).
Even when major projects like the Sugarloaf Pipeline and desalination plant are ready, we’ll need to keep saving water. If Melbourne used the same amount of water as in the 1990s, we’d be looking for 350 billion litres by 2012 instead of the 240 billion we need to find.
The light blue section of this graph shows Melbourne’s actual water storage levels since 2002. The dark blue section shows how storages levels would have looked had people not conserved water.