LEONGATHA may yet be saved from water restrictions later this year after heavy rain drenched South Gippsland catchments over the past two weeks.
South Gippsland Water had warned that Leongatha and Koonwarra were particularly vulnerable and asked residents to reduce their water use as low stream flows pointed to possible water restrictions.
The current capacity of Ruby Creek, which relies heavily on natural rainfall, remains low at 66 per cent capacity, but the total capacity of all South Gippsland Water reservoirs is moving closer to 75 per cent with Lance Creek at 73 per cent and smaller reservoirs at Deep Creek and Battery Creek at 100 per cent.
Managing director of South Gippsland Water, Rob Murphy remained cautious.
“Leongatha typically draws down gradually over summer and autumn and then recharges quickly in winter, but our storages have been drawn down more heavily this year due to the lack of rainfall.”
Mr Murphy added that only the Leongatha region had been impacted by low storage levels in the South Gippsland catchment area.
“There are no expectations of water restrictions in any other towns in South Gippsland or Bass Coast in 2025,” said Mr Murphy.
Westernport Water reported Candowie Reservoir is currently 60 per cent full and climbing daily. This compares with 66.8 per cent at the same time last year.
Water demand has increased slightly compared to 2024, with customer consumption to the end of October at 1924ML, up from 1859ML last year. Year-to-date rainfall in the Candowie catchment was 489mm, which was significantly lower than both the five-year average of 729mm and the 587mm recorded over the same period last year.
Westernport Water said it would continue to monitor water resources carefully and actively consider all options to manage demand in response to low rainfall and below-average inflows.
“While current water supplies are sufficient to meet demand, we remain mindful of the long-term outlook and may consider water restrictions if conditions require.”
Westernport Water was optimistic water restrictions could be avoided this summer, supported by the availability of alternative water sources, including the bulk entitlement from the Bass River and access to Victoria’s Water Grid.
“We have been able to lean on our connection to Victoria’s Water Grid to ensure storage levels continue to grow, giving us greater security and flexibility in meeting demand.”
Following recent heavy rain, the Bass River is now meeting the flow requirements for Westernport Water to pump water from Bass River into Candowie Reservoir.
Westernport Water’s supply is also supported by the ongoing delivery of 50 billion litres of desalinated water this year from the Victorian Desalination Plant.
Rainfall for November has exceeded expectations right across the Bass Coast.
Wonthaggi recorded 117.8mm of rain for the first two weeks of November, well above the monthly average of 70.5mm. It was a similar story for Rhyll with 102.2mm so far this month compared to the monthly average of 60mm. Heavy rain was also recorded across South Gippsland with Yarram receiving 130.2mm compared to the monthly average of 70.9mm.
Wilson’s Promontory was yet another story with next to no rainfall recorded for November. The Bureau of Meteorology explained the Wilsons Promontory automatic weather station was recording and sending data, but it was possible wind gusts exceeding 100km/hr last week may have affected the rain gauge readings.
The current long-range forecast is a 60 per cent chance of above average rainfall from December to February and an 80 per cent chance of above average temperatures.
