More than 50,000 megalitres of water flowed in to Coliban Water storages during October, the highest inflows ever received for the month of October.
Executive general manager of strategy, Jarrah O’Shea, said levels in Coliban Water’s storages near Kyneton, as well as the Coliban share of Lake Eppalock, were at more than 100 per cent.
“La Nina conditions continue to impact our region, positively by providing us with security of supply, and negatively by causing flooding in parts of our region and contributing to challenges in our sewer network,” Mr O’Shea said.
“Spring rainfall at Malmsbury Reservoir was 486mm, which is more than 2.5 times greater than the average for spring rainfall, resulting in almost 97 gigalitres of inflow to our reservoirs on the Coliban River.
“This inflow is more than 6.5 times the median spring inflow. We are holding 5000 megalitres more in storage than we were for the same time last year.”
Ongoing wet conditions have caused significant impact across the region, with many towns remaining flooded and on alert, while in others the recovery process has begun. While there is strong water availability, the water quality is poor in many parts of the region as a result of flooding and CW’s treatment plant operations teams are working to manage this.
Coliban Water teams continue to work through the impacts to sewer and water services throughout the region.
“Our Incident Team has been working around the clock since the beginning of October, ensuring that our sewer and water networks are repaired, cleaned and fully operational,” Mr O’Shea said.
“Our intention is to build back better, and where feasible and cost-effective, to ensure climate resilience and better outcomes for our communities. Our teams are investigating what this means for each town.”
