Living with drought

Melbourne Water

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• History of drought in and around Melbourne
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A dry history

The history of white settlement in Australia shows a pattern of failing to acknowledge the extremes of the new land.

The first attempt at white settlement in Victoria near Sorrento in 1803 was abandoned partly because of a lack of water.

The availability of water has been instrumental in the development of Victoria. Melbourne was settled in 1835 at a point on the lower Yarra where a low rock ridge separated fresh water from the salty estuarine waters. The city's first water supply reservoir, Yan Yean, came on line in 1857.

Several years later, the Water Supply Department banned the use of hoses for watering gardens - and offenders risked fines or disconnection.

Australian colonial officials denied the existence of drought during the late 19th century as part of their efforts to attract more European immigrants.

In the 20th century, drought was treated as something to be fought, cured or beaten. Many schemes in Victoria tried to "drought-proof" towns, districts or regions by capturing streamflows, building storages and managing the distribution of water.

Communities around the State sunk bores, brought in supplies by rail or water carts, enlarged local reservoirs or constructed temporary dams - and even set aside days to pray for rain.

Over the years, the traditional approach to managing drought was to build new reservoirs to meet increasing demand for water, spurred by population growth, dry spells and occasional drought. The last and largest of Melbourne's water storages, the Thomson Reservoir, was completed in 1984.

Today, the Government and Melbourne Water recognise this approach is no longer sustainable. The 2006 Central Region Sustainable Water Strategy outlines actions to secure water supplies for urban and industrial use to the year 2055 by exploring alternative water sources, such as re-use, recycling, conservation, efficiency, stormwater, desalination and aquifers. New dams are not part of the strategy.

Historically, managing water demand during drought involved restrictions designed to curb use and conserve water storages. These restrictions usually limited external water use, and in some towns, street watering was banned causing huge amounts of dust to be churned up by horses, carts and carriages.

In 1950, a bylaw was introduced under which any 24 hours could be declared a period of restricted water use. During these times, householders were banned from using garden hoses.

Since the 1960s, water restrictions have been introduced in dry years because of low streamflow into water storage reservoirs resulting in low storage levels.

In the severe drought of 1967-68, restrictions were introduced relating to the use of fixed sprinklers and hoses, as well as washing cars and filling swimming pools and fountains. People used buckets to water their gardens and even this practice was later restricted.

After the 1972-73 drought water restrictions were formalised. In 1975 the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (Melbourne Water's predecessor) and the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission produced an eight-stage set of restrictions.

The 1982-83 drought affected most of eastern Australia, and sparked the Ash Wednesday bushfires, which burnt 13,000 hectares of Melbourne's water supply catchments , and caused massive dust storms.

In Melbourne, Stage 6 restrictions were introduced in February 1983. Since then, Victorian water authorities have worked to plan for drought and simplify restrictions.

In the early 1990s, drought-management guidelines were completed for non-metropolitan areas, and in 1995, drought response plans were completed for the newly formed metropolitan retail water companies. The plans included a four-stage restriction regime.

Water storage levels have steadily declined as the current ten-year drought continues to reduce streamflow into our water reservoirs. In March 2005, the Government introduced Permanent Water Saving Rules across Victoria and penalties for breaches.

The rules specify manual watering systems only between 8pm and 10am, automatic watering systems only between 10pm and 10am, all hoses to have trigger nozzles, no hosing of paved areas, and apply to fill a new pool.