Premier John Brumby yesterday confirmed restrictions would next month ease from level 3a to level 3, meaning Melbourne households will be able to water their gardens for two hours a day every second day of the week instead of the present two days a week limit.

Mr Brumby said the relaxation of restrictions was due in part to water-saving programs, the north-south pipeline coming online, the desalination project and the benefit of recent rainfall.

However, Melbourne Water says seasonal factors stifled run-off from the recent storms, with less than three billion litres added to Melbourne’s storages on the back of the heavy rain.

In other words, there was very little benefit to storages.

In two of the past three weeks, Melbourne households have also failed to limit their consumption of water to the recommended 155 litres per person per day.

And as we remain in the firm grip of one of the driest spells of weather most parts of the state have ever experienced, we should perhaps have learned by now that we should not have gardens that need to be watered with potable water three or four times a week for two hours at a time, especially now that the worst of summer should have passed.

This time two years ago, Melbourne Water storages were at 34.6 per cent of their capacity and our state capital was firmly entrenched in level 3a restrictions.

Melbourne Water’s own website yesterday quoted storages at exactly 34.6 per cent of their total capacity.

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