Victoria's Minister for Water, Gayle Tierney, has placed a 150-billion-litre order from the Victorian Desalination Plant as metropolitan storage levels in the southeastern Australian state reach their lowest point in more than six years, with both Melbourne and Geelong recording their steepest annual decline since the Millennium Drought.
As of early April, Melbourne's storages stood at 67.1%, down from 78.6% at the same point last year, while Geelong has fallen to 37.5% compared to 42.8% a year earlier. Geelong's storages had already finished 2025 at a 16-year low for that time of year, a trend that has continued into 2026. The order is grounded in independent advice from water corporations, factoring in current storage conditions, projected future demand, and expected rainfall patterns. Hot and dry conditions are forecast to persist through autumn, further increasing reliance on stored and desalinated water.
This year's order, equivalent to one-third of Melbourne's current annual demand, compares with the 50 billion litres delivered in 2025 and marks the eighth order in the past ten years, underscoring the plant's role as a structural component of the state's water supply rather than an emergency measure. Its output supports not only Greater Melbourne but also surrounding regions, with a major upgrade to the Melbourne to Geelong Pipeline, completed in 2025, now enabling up to 22 billion litres to be transferred to the Geelong region annually. Running at peak capacity in February, the pipeline was meeting around half of the Geelong region's demand.
The March 2026 Water Outlook rated the likelihood of water restrictions for summer 2026/27 as "possible", with a probability of between 20 and 49%. The current order, alongside individual conservation efforts, may help the region avoid that outcome. Despite the pressures on storage levels, authorities note that Melbourne maintains some of the lowest water prices of any Australian capital city.
Looking further ahead, desalinated water features prominently in Victoria's 2025 Water Security Plan, which outlines a combination of long-term measures including expanded desalination capacity, greater water efficiency, recycled water, and stormwater harvesting to meet growing regional demand.
