Barwon Water says we’re already seeing a drop in the regions storage’s thanks to an El Niño weather pattern.
September was our driest on record and catchments are down 20 per cent on this time last year.
Barwon Water General Manager Seamus Butchers says the last three years of above average rain brought by the La Niña weather pattern are over.
“We are expecting hotter drier conditions, this means less rainfall, less water flowing into the rivers and being captured in those storages,” he said.
Most of the regions main catchments are now sitting just under 80 per cent, they were all brimming at this time last year when they reached levels not seen in 20 years.
“Since July rainfall has been well below our average in all our catchments…64 per cent below our average rainfall,” Mr Butcher said.
The water authority is predicting increasing pressure on the catchments with more people moving to the region and predicted hotter and drier weather conditions into the future.
