THE STATE OF THE MELBOURNE WATER SUPPLY. LXXXIII. 
Seeing that there is such opposition to the diversion of 
water from the Acheron River, and that if proceeded with 
it will be exceedingly costly for the small amount of water 
likely to be derived thereby, which also may be seriously 
diminished before it reaches the intake to the aqueduct by 
losses such as I have described, it will be well to consider 
whether the money proposed to be expended on the Acheron 
scheme would not be more advantageously applied to the 
extraction of the additional water required from the satur- 
ated beds adjacent to the streams on the Watt’s River 
watershed, and at the same time commencing works for 
the development of that system, by conserving as much as 
possible the underground water. 
Notwithstanding the protracted drought the Maroondah 
catchment area appears to yield stilla very large quantity of 
water, I think something like 17 million gallons daily is now 
flowing into the aqueduct for the needs of Melbourne. How 
long it would continue to discharge at this rate if the dry 
season continues it is impossible to say. The stream 
fluctuates of course with the rainfall. Hvery shower that 
falls upon the area contributes its quota to the stream and 
also to the underground supply or water table. If the 
water table is low, the immediate ‘‘run off’’ will be very 
much diminished as has been already proved on the Wallaby 
and Silver Creeks. That portion of the rainfall which is 
absorbed by the soil and goes down below the limit of 
evaporation (which is estimated by competent authorities 
at 2 feet) continues to sink until it joins the water table. 
If the rainfall is sufficient in quantity and rate of fall to 
maintain the level of the water table, the hydraulic gradient 
underground will remain constant, and the streams will 
continue to flow in undiminished volume. We know, how- 
ever, in the case of the catchment areas on which Mel- 
bourne relies for its supply, that the stream flow has very 
