These Victorian towns have water restrictions. Remember them?

Anyone who has lived in Victoria long enough will almost certainly remember the millennium drought and the water restrictions that accompanied it. Timers and buckets in showers. Dry, yellow and dusty lawns.

Tubs catching water in kitchen sinks. For many Melburnians, the water restrictions in the early 2000s might be a distant memory. But south-west Victoria is in the grip of a new drought, having recorded some of the lowest rainfall levels on record.



The big dry in Colac. South-west Victoria is in the midst of drought. Credit: Jason South Water restrictions have been introduced in the coastal town of Apollo Bay and nearby Marengo and Skenes Creek.

The local water corporation has declared stage 2 water restrictions in those communities, which applies to water use outdoors. They are monitoring water levels and the long-term climate outlook, which will help to determine whether restrictions can be eased or whether tougher measures are required. Barwon Water acting managing director Melissa Stephens said Apollo Bay had experienced its third-driest summer period of the past 50 years.

“It is an area that’s often quite wet,” she said. “So this is quite unusual.” Apollo Bay’s Sally Cannon said local people are talking constantly about the drought.

Credit: Jason South Stephens said water provision in Apollo Bay came from a “discrete system”, drawn from locally stored rainwater and a water entitlement from the Barham River. Under the bulk Apollo Bay entitlement, Barwon Water can take up to 800 megalitres of water from the river. This standalone water system means Apollo Bay is not connected to larger storages in Geelong, Colac or Melbourne.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s outlook is not favourable. In its latest climate outlook, the bureau reported there was an increased chance of unusually low rainfall across much of Australia in May, particularly in western Victoria and south-east South Australia. According to bureau data, Melbourne’s water storages were at 76.

8 per cent this weekend, compared to 90.2 per cent last year. But for the 14-month period since February 2024, the bureau said areas in north-west Victoria and along the coastline near Warrnambool had experienced record low rainfall.

Stephens said Barwon Water was taking a conservative approach to water restrictions, considering the prolonged dry conditions. She said Barwon Water also had to consider the population increases in Apollo Bay during the Easter break and school holidays. However, Stephens said long-term Apollo Bay residents were accustomed to living with water restrictions.

Stage 3 restrictions were last in place in 2016 in Apollo Bay, and there were stage 4 restrictions in 2013. “The muscle memory is very strong,” she said. The stage 2 restrictions, applied earlier this month, mean residential and commercial lawns cannot be watered.

Use of residential watering systems is only permitted between 6am and 8am and 6pm and 8pm on alternate days. There are also restrictions on cleaning windows, hosing down hard surfaces and washing vehicles. Many farmers are having to buy in feed for their livestock in dry paddocks where pasture is eaten to the ground.

Credit: Jason South Barwon Water has also trialled digital meters to find undetected leaks and help customers monitor their water use. Stephens said the trial at Marengo and nearby Birregurra saved about 45.4 million litres of water.

Those meters will be installed in Apollo Bay too. Barwon Water has also been conducting community consultation sessions about future water provision in Apollo Bay with climate change already impacting water run-off in the corporation’s catchments. Stephens said this would help determine what infrastructure or other measures might be implemented in future.

Apollo Bay Bakery co-owner Sally Cannon said the water restrictions were not yet particularly onerous. But she expects more pressure on Apollo Bay’s natural resources in coming years, with so much residential construction taking place. Cannon described the increase in tourism as “unbelievable” with visitor numbers high year-round.

Sally Cannon overlooking Apollo Bay where water restrictions have been introduced. Credit: Jason South “Apollo Bay is not going to get any smaller,” she said. “There’s still a lot of building going on.

There’s still a lot of land.” The 2021 census showed the town’s population was almost 1500, compared to just under 1100 in 2011. Cannon urged the water corporation to invest in Apollo Bay’s future, so the town had water certainty even in times of prolonged drought.

She said dry weather had been a constant topic of conversation among residents, and in surrounding agricultural communities. Cannon insisted households could voluntarily implement some of the restrictions permanently, including only watering the garden in the mornings and evenings. I’ve never seen the Warrnambool region look so bad Beef farmer Georgina Gubbins “I think we need to be water wise all the time, really.

We can’t take it for granted.” Beef farmer Georgina Gubbins, who has property in south-western Victoria, said she sold off some livestock last year preparing for extended dry weather. She said the landscape in the region looked dusty and “shocking”.

“I’ve never seen the Warrnambool region look so bad. Paddocks are eaten down almost to the ground, which you normally never see around this district,” she said. Gubbins said farmers were buying in feed for their stock whereas they could typically rely on pasture growth in the region.

Monash University climate scientist Ailie Gallant said western Victoria and South Australia were in the midst of drought, but Melbourne was not. She said water corporations would typically become concerned after a year of dry weather and begin considering restrictions. Grant said the millennial drought had left a profound cultural mark on Victoria, despite some wet years since.

“For Australians who are 30 years or older particularly in Victoria it left a big mark. It has changed our behaviours for good in terms of water efficiencies,” she said. “But it’s easy to forget too when we’ve had a few wet years how dry this continent can be.

”.