Australia's water supply bounces back from gravely low levels after the east coast cops its heaviest rain in decades - here's how much precious H20 is stored where YOU live
- Australia's east coast has received heaviest downpour in more than two decades
- Deluge gave much-needed top-up to dams after years of crippling drought
- Below is a breakdown of Australia's water storage nationwide and city-by-city
Australia's east coast has received the heaviest downpour in more than two decades, giving a much-needed top-up to major dams after years of crippling drought.
The severe storm dumped the most rain since 1998 - 400mm from Friday to Sunday - on Sydney and turned roads into river.
While the downpour left 150,000 without power, brought trees down and caused chaos for commuters, it brought relief to the city's parched dams and reservoirs.
Warragamba Dam - which supplies the main reservoir supplying water to Sydney - enjoyed 120mm of rain in 24 hours from Sunday morning, raising levels by 20 per cent over a week.
Pedestrians sprint through Sydney's streets as the rain pelts down unabated, with umbrellas virtually no help
Emergency services have been swamped with calls since the deluge set in on Friday, while the extreme weather has caused chaos on the roads.
While the country's major dams are nowhere near full capacity, some will flow further in the coming days.
Below is a breakdown of Australia's water storage nationwide and city-by-city as of Saturday.
AUSTRALIA'S WATER STORAGE REVEALED
SNAPSHOT OF AUSTRALIA'S WATER STORAGE (AS OF FEBRUARY 8)
* Storage level of full capacity: 44.4 per cent
* Change since last year: down 6.8 per cent
Warragamba Dam supplied Lake Burragorang - the primary reservoir supplying water to the city
WATER STORAGE FOR CAPITAL CITIES AND STATEWIDE RESTRICTIONS
ADELAIDE:
* Storage level as percentage of full capacity: 48.5 per cent
* Change since last year: down 0.2 per cent
* Water restrictions: 'Water wise measures' replaced restrictions across South Australia in 2010.
BRISBANE:
* Storage level: 57.4 per cent
* Change since last year: down 16.9 per cent
* Water restrictions: None for Brisbane metro area but restrictions for Scenic Rim include using water for outdoor cleaning for only four hours on two days a week and a total ban on sprinklers. Despite rains at the weekend, water still needs to be trucked to Stanthorpe near the NSW border which officially ran out of drinking water in January.
CANBERRA:
* Storage level: 44.7 per cent
* Change since last year: down 18.5 per cent
* Water restrictions: Permanent water conservation measures in place since 2010.
DARWIN:
* Storage level: 54.3 per cent
* Change since last year: down 24.5 per cent
* Water restrictions: None for Darwin region, but the Katherine area has watering restrictions due to the presence of PFAS chemicals.
HOBART:
* Storage level: 56.59 per cent
* Change since last year: down 16.9 per cent
* Water restrictions: Stage 1 in greater Hobart region and Bridport, Stage 2 Coles Bay and Stage 3 Scamander.
Aerial image of Wivenhoe Dam near Brisbane releasing water from its spillway
MELBOURNE:
* Storage level: 62.3 per cent
* Change since last year: up 3.9 per cent.
* Water restrictions: Permanent water saving rules since 2011 across the state, but watering of lawns in Goulburn Valley is banned and other restrictions apply.
PERTH:
* Storage level: 41.2 per cent
* Change since last year: down 5.6 per cent
* Water restrictions: Permanent water efficiency measures were introduced in 2007, including a watering days roster.
SYDNEY:
* Storage level: 41.8 per cent
* Change since last year: down 17.3 per cent
* Water restrictions: Level 2 for Sydney metropolitan area and varying levels for other parts of the state ranging from none to "emergency" level 5 for Tamworth, Moonbi, Kootingal and Walgett - banning all residential outdoor use of treated town or council water.
Source: Bureau of Meteorology
