Abstract
The Warragamba catchment, which supplies about 80% of Greater Sydney's drinking water, reached an all time low of 32.4% in February 2007. Questions were raised about the adequacy of the water infrastructure to meet the water needs of Sydney and whether the reduction in storage was a result of decreasing rainfall trend in the region. This paper attempts to answer these questions by investigating the long-term rainfall pattern in the Warragamba catchment area and investigates the seasonal and annual changes in rainfall patterns. Statistical analysis of available rainfall data indicates a trend of decreasing rainfall of 2.52mm/year between the period of 1945 and 1998 whereas between 1890 and 2003, a linear increasing trend of 0.32mm/year was observed. Three substantial drought periods have occurred over the study period. These periods were identified as 1901-1910, 1939-1948 and 2000-2006. Out of these, the 1901-1910 drought was the most severe one, followed by the 1939-1948 drought. The most recent drought (2000-2006) was the least severe among the three recorded. However, it is the only drought of significant duration that has occurred since the completion of construction of Warragamba Dam in 1960.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | River Basin Management V |
| Editors | C. A. Brebbia |
| Place of Publication | U.K. |
| Publisher | WIT Press |
| Pages | 25-36 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781845643751 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781845641986 |
| Publication status | Published - 2009 |
