Rain boosts Melbourne's reservoirs

Widespread drenching rain has sent some 17 billion litres of water cascading into
Melbourne's catchments and is swelling rivers and creeks.
The Yarra River burst its banks at Millgrove in the Yarra Valley, east of Melbourne,
on Monday.

And water levels were continuing to rise near the towns of Healesville and Yarra Glen.
"It's probably about five years since we have seen these levels in the upper section
of the Yarra," Melbourne Water spokesman Andrew McGinnes told AAP.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued flood warnings for other rivers across the state,
including the Macalister and Latrobe in Gippsland and the Goulburn in the state's
north.
The Latrobe and Bunyip rivers also broke their banks, inundating surrounding areas.
Mr McGinnes said the city's water storages had risen from 30.8 per cent to 31.7 per
cent after an average of 93 millimetres of rain in the four catchment areas since
Friday.
"We expect storages will keep rising over the next few days, as the water makes its
way through the catchments and into reservoirs," Mr McGinnes said.
"Because the catchments are finally wetter, the runoff rates from this rain are
quite strong."
The extra 17 billion litres is slightly more than two weeks' supply for Melbourne.
But the city's water storages are still 40 billion litres down on the same time last
year.
Between 8am Friday and 8am Monday, the Thomson Dam received 96mm of rain, the Upper
Yarra 91mm, Maroondah received 64mm and the O'Shannassy catchment recorded 111mm.
The rain was welcomed by the state's farmers, especially in the western
Wimmera-Mallee region.
Victorian Farmers Federation president Andrew Broad said significant falls would
benefit grain farmers in the area.
Wheat crops planted around May were starting to mature this month, Mr Broad said.
"For the grain industry this is a very good outcome," he told AAP.
"We are looking at the best year in 10 years in the Horsham area."
Moe and Warragul in Gippsland, farmed predominantly by the beef and dairy cattle
industry, were also very wet, Mr Broad said.
However, areas north of Shepparton and East Gippsland were yet to receive
significant rainfall.
Meanwhile, the weekend's cold snap delivered up to half a metre of snow to the
Victorian Alps, prompting some resorts to extend their ski season for another week.
Although the official season ended on the weekend, Mt Buller and Falls Creek resorts
announced they would extend their seasons due to "massive" weekend falls.
Mt Buller received 58 centimetres of fresh snow, while Falls Creek had 26cm and Mt
Hotham 33cm over the weekend.
Melbourne has exceeded its monthly average rainfall for September.