The wait is over... Candowie has reached 100% capacity

Candowie Reservoir Westernport Water’s primary local water storage for drinking water to Phillip Island and Western Port stretching from The Gurdies down to Dalyston is officially now full at 100% capacity.

The reservoir is currently holding 4,463 million litres of water and overflowing after heavy July and August rains replenished the storage marking a massive recovery after the low levels of last year.

Drivers watching the roadside billboard at Phillip Island will have tracked a steady climb at Candowie Reservoir over recent weeks. The storage jumped from 90 per cent to its maximum limit last week in a matter of days.

This contrasts sharply with the same time last year when the reservoir sat at just 45.1 per cent capacity with a mere 2,014 million litres.

Westernport Water reported that Candowie Reservoir officially reached 100% capacity on August 10, 2026, the first time since November 1, 2023, ending a 1,013 day stretch.

The reservoir has reached capacity each year from 2018 to 2023. When this occurs, excess water falls over the spillway and safely re-enters Tennant Creek.

Candowie Reservoir was first commissioned in 1964 with a capacity of 1,130 ML. It was then raised 1.68 meters in 1978 to a capacity of 1,737 ML, and raised a further 0.80 meters in 1982 to a capacity of 2,264 ML. In 2013 the reservoir full supply level was raised a further 3 meters, doubling the storage capacity to 4,464 ML.

Heavy winter inflows and strong river flows have also turned other local water systems around. The combined storage level for South Gippsland Water reservoirs currently sits at a healthy average of 94 per cent. Lance Creek, Battery Creek and Deep Creek reservoirs are all full at 100% capacity while Ruby Creek was sitting at 96 per cent.

Greater Melbourne faces a different trend. City and metropolitan water storage levels remain low at between 65.9 per cent and 66.9 per cent capacity. Below-average rain and stream flows through autumn and winter have pulled urban totals down.

The Wonthaggi Desalination Plant was ramped up to full-scale desalinated water production in June due an unprecedented surge in urban water consumption and plummeting reservoir levels.

The government claimed water from the desalination plant would serve as a crucial buffer against severe dry conditions across the state, however it particularly targets the rapidly depleting water catchments supplying Melbourne and Geelong.