THE ORD RIVER
Stage 1 which included the Diversion Dam at Kununurra, the Kununurra township and some irrigation works was completed in 1966. Stage 2 which was completed in 1974 comprised of the main dam, otherwise known as Lake Argyle and some additional irrigation works. Since then a hydro power station has been built and the level of the main dam wall raised.
Full Storage 10,763 million m3 (Water Corporation Website).
Current storage of Lake Argyle
Average annual surplus of water has varied between 1,800 and 2,100 million m3
of water per year between 1996 and 2006 (KEP p33).
Catchment Area 46,100 km2 (Water Corporation website)
Total annual surface water consumption for the Ord catchment area was 305 and 330 million m3 per year for the years ended October 2004 and October 2005 (op cit)
THE AMAZON RIVER
Average annual flow 4,730,400 million m3 per year ( 1,350 times the Ord)
(Water Resources of the World, Frits van der Leeden, 1975, p388)
Catchment area 4,688,000 km2 (op cit)
MURRAY RIVER - AUSTRALIA
Average annual flow 3,860 million m3
(Water 2000, AGPS, 1983 Report 1,p75)
Catchment area 15,280 km2 (op cit,p75)
WATER USE IN MAJOR AUSTRALIAN CITIES 1984
Sydney 500 million m3 per year
Melbourne 406 million m3 per year
Brisbane 171 million m3 per year
Adelaide 209 million m3 per year
Perth 345 million m3 per year
Per Review Of Australia's Water Resources,AWRC 1987 (pp 97-105)
LATEST PERTH SUPPLY INFORMATION
In the year ended 30 June 2006 the Water Corporation supplied 227 million m3 to the Perth metropolitan area (Water Corporation, Water for Life 2006,p 61) although a significant amount of other water is abstracted from groundwater resources privately. Demand restrictions were estimated by the Water Corporation to be 44.2 million m3 (Water for Life p19).
The average per capita water consumption for the Perth metropolitan area for 2006 was 155 m3.
1 MILLION TONNE SUPERTANKER
Can carry enough water in one load for 6,400 people for one year.
