After one of the wettest springs on record, water storages in the Greater Geelong region are at close to capacity according to Barwon Water’s latest Annual Water Outlook.
The report details the security of the region’s supply systems over the next two years and Barwon Water managing director Tracey Slatter said storage levels were at nearly 100 per cent for the start of summer, the highest in more than 27 years.
Colac, Lorne and Apollo Bay water storages are all close to full.
Barwon Water said the likelihood of restrictions in the Geelong, Golden Plains, Bellarine and Surf Coast supply system is rated as “very rare”.
“West Barwon Reservoir, home to the region’s main catchment located in the Otways, spilled again this year, while Lal Lal Reservoir, in the Moorabool catchment also spilled for the third year in a row,” Ms Slatter said.
Ms Slatter said the storage levels and recent wet weather should be considered in the context of longer-term modelling which predicts an increasingly hotter and drier climate in the region.
“We know that while storages are at healthy levels now, the situation can change quickly,” Ms Slatter said.
“During the 2015-2016 El Niño and the hot dry start to 2019, we saw that water storages can draw down rapidly.
“While it has been generally wet over the past 24 months in our region, historically we have seen a 28 per cent drop in average inflows at West Barwon Reservoir since 1997.”
Ms Slatter said that in the future we will no longer be able to rely on rainfall and groundwater alone to secure supplies.
She said the long-term trend of hotter and drier conditions coupled with population growth in the region highlighted the importance of investments made during the Millennium Drought, including the Melbourne-Geelong pipeline which can be used to supplement supplies in dry times.
