LXXVI. T. W. KEELE. 
The demand for water increased from 32 gallons per 
head in 1877 to 41 in 1887, but as soon as the Maroondah 
system became available the use of water rapidly increased. 
In 1888 it was 49, rising in 1894 to 61, then dropping to 52 
in 1896, rising to 61 in 1898. 
The total quantity of water that can be sent into Mel- 
bourne by the existing works is— 
Yan Yean system ae ... 33 million gallons per day 
Maroondah Ps sek ea) a 7 + 
High level main ae yo! x s A. 
Total possible daily supply ... 67 - re i, 
Nore.—The above description of the Melbourne Water Supply 
is extracted from the Engineer-in-Chief’s Report of 1903. 
It will be seen from what has been stated, that Melbourne 
is supplied practically from the daily flow of the streams, 
and the quantity received from these sources has been so 
good that it is only on occasions when the rainfall is con- 
siderably below the average, when the demand for water 
is in excess of the combined stream flow that the Yan 
Yean reservoir has been called upon to make up the de- 
ficiency. Owing to the long continued drought the draft 
upon the reservoir has been so continuous as to reduce it 
to a level never previously experienced, and very great 
anxiety is felt as to the result should the dry spell continue. 
It will be remembered that I drew attention in my 
address on May 20th, 1908, to the fact that there had been 
a persistent decline in the rainfall from the year 1875 to 
1898 as shown by the Melbourne residual mass curve dia- 
gram, and that although a slight rise had occurred for the 
six years following to 1904, another persistent decline had 
Set in which has continued to the present time when the 
ground water would probably be found to be at a lower 
level than it had ever attained before. 
