Melbourne Water
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Melbourne Water is the organisation that controls much of the water system in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia including the city's reservoirs, sewerage and drainage system. Melbourne Water is wholly owned by the Victorian state Government. Major Retail customers of Melbourne Water are City West Water, South East Water and Yarra Valley Water.[1]
Melbourne Water was formed by the merger of Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works and a number of smaller urban water authorities in 1991.
Contents |
[edit] Melbourne's water storages
Melbourne Water manages the nine Melbourne reservoirs outlined in the table below. Total storage capacity is 1,773,000 megalitires.[2]
| Reservoir | Capacity (ML) | Year Completed |
|---|---|---|
| Thomson | 1,068,000 | 1983 |
| Cardinia | 287,000 | 1973 |
| Upper Yarra | 200,000 | 1957 |
| Sugarloaf | 96,000 | 1981 |
| Silvan | 40,000 | 1932 |
| Yan Yean | 30,000 | 1857 |
| Greenvale | 27,000 | 1971 |
| Maroondah | 22,000 | 1927 |
| O'Shannassy | 3,000 | 1928 |
[edit] Water Supply Catchments
[edit] Overview
90% of Melbourne's water is sourced from uninhabited forests in the Yarra Ranges.In excess of 157 thousand hectares is reserved for water catchment. These forests primarily consist of Mountain Ash. Catchment areas have been closed to the public for over 100 years.[3]
[edit] Clearfell logging in catchment areas
Clearfell logging is permitted in these catchment areas which in turn is reducing Melbourne's water supply.[4][5] It is estimated that 30 thousand megalitires of water could be saved per annum by phasing out logging. This represents 6% of Melbourne's annual usage.[6]
[edit] See also
[edit] External link
- Melbourne Water
- Yarra Valley Water
- South East Water
- City West Water
- Melbourne water supply issues
- Department of Primary industries: Water Supply Catchment Protection
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.melbournewater.com.au/content/about_us/who_we_are/who_we_are.asp
- ^ http://www.melbournewater.com.au/content/water/water_storages/water_storages.asp
- ^ http://www.melbournewater.com.au/content/water/water_supply_catchments/water_supply_catchments.asp
- ^ http://www.vicrainforest.org/Melbwater.php
- ^ http://www.wilderness.org.au/campaigns/forests/victoria/central_highlands/20011018_mr/
- ^ http://www.tcha.org.au/water.html
