Water restrictions in place from today

8/09/01
Government Enterprises Minister Nick Griffiths today reminded people in the Perth metropolitan area - and those in towns and properties fed by the Goldfields pipeline -that restrictions on water usage will be effective from today.
Mr Griffiths said that despite the recent rainfall, dams in Western Australia remained at only 27 per cent of their combined capacity.
"The September rainfall is already substantially less than the rainfall for this time last year," he said.
"As of yesterday, the dams are holding only 172.5 million kilolitres of water, compared with 281 million kilolitres at the same time last year.
"In the first full week of September 2000, 20 million kilolitres of water flowed from the catchments into the dams. This compares with just 500,000 kilolitres that flowed into the dams last week.
"Despite all the planning and investment by the Water Corporation over the past nine years, the lack of rainfall has created a serious problem for our water supply.
"As a result, restrictions on sprinkler use to two days a week are now in place."
Mr Griffiths said he was confident that the community would pull together to ensure water was conserved.
"Everyone in our community needs to do their bit to save water," he said.
"This means adhering to the two day a week sprinkler system and thinking about other ways we can use water wisely.
"If people have any queries about the system or would like any further information on how to conserve water, they should contact the Water Wise Hotline on 13 10 39."
Media contact: Melissa Robinson 9222 8950