I came across this nice graph of melbourne water storages graphed against the SOI
( southern oscillation index )
Firstly
Our Melbourne water storage levels are strongly correlated with the fluctuations of the SOI and impending El Nino/La nina oscillations
I was amazed to see how a strong el nino can take out our water storages very quickly
Note our melbourne water storage dropped a massive 40% !!
from 1996 to the end of 1997 during an El Nino
ranked as strong El Nino by SOI index but was only ranked as a weak to moderate el nino ?
Interesting our storages returned just as quickly with a strong La nina of 2010/11
Also of note is the comment re the Indian ocean dipole which was positive during most of this low rainfall decade l assume
would be good to see a dam level graph superimposed over the IOD index as well
This report was developed during the end of that dry period at a time when the authorities must of been panicking with supplies down under 30% in 2009
Notice the desalination plant was due to be on line around Jan 2012
The graph shows a steady decline of water supply and a catastrophic situation if rainfall did not return.
The full article is an interesting read
as the authorities prepared for dams to empty
This is the cached version from google instead of the pdf
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=ca ... low84u3Sig" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;