significant rain event that started on Monday.
The EPA’s Mark Taylor said “poor” water quality was common after heavy rainfall as pollutants get flushed from upstream and into the bay.
“When we get rainfall, what’s upstream gets flushed downstream,” he said.
“That includes contaminants such as trace metals and also bacteria matter, which is what we assess in the waters around the bay.”
The EPA has advised people to avoid swimming in the area for at least 48 hours, which is how long it usually takes for contaminants to settle.
That won’t deter Ross Headifen who is a member of the Port Melbourne Icebergs.
He said he was surprised by the water quality forecast and didn’t think the rainfall “would change much”.
“I don’t think it will sway some of the regular swimmers too much,” he said.
“Some people are cautious and they’ll say ‘no, I won’t go in while it’s red’ but you can kind of tell by looking at the water,” he said.
But he encouraged people to look at the forecast and make their own call.
‘Fairly rare’ weather event, BOM says
A weather warning was issued for parts of the state, including for flash flooding.
A woman escaped injury after she was swept into a stormwater drain in Daylesford, north-west of Melbourne, on Monday night.
Eleven records were broken across Victoria overnight Monday, as the state was batted by heavy rain and winds.
Melbourne had its wettest day in four years, recording 53.2 millimetres.
ABC News: Bridget McArthur
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In the 24 hours to 9am on Tuesday, Mornington — south-east of Melbourne — recorded 65.2 millimetres of rain, its highest daily rainfall total for April in 157 years.
While Wonthaggi, in South Gippsland, had 64.4 millimetres of rain, the highest on record in 114 years.
Upper Plenty, Mollison Creek at Pyalong, the Goulburn River at Seymour, King Lake West, Viewbank, Coldstream and Cape Liptrap all saw a record-breaking amount of rainfall.
Senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) Lincoln Trainor said it was an extremely wet event and “highly unusual” for this time of year.
ABC News: Bridget McArthur
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“We did have a significant frontal system that swept through the state [on Monday],” he said.
“It particularly moved over central parts in the evening and that unlocked a large amount of tropical moisture over the state, which was highly unusual for this time of year.”
He said it also represented an autumn break event for most parts of the state, which is a few weeks earlier than usual.
“The autumn break is the first breaking rainfall in autumn that’s significant, which is greater than 25 millimetres accumulated over three days after the first of March,” he said.
Mr Trainor said those two things combined made it a “fairly rare event”.
Swimmers should use ‘common sense’
Mr Taylor said the beach water quality often improves within 48 hours but can take longer than that if there has been consistent rain.
“Which is what we saw during the summer,” he said.
“We saw quite a long period of dark brown water coming out the Yarra affecting the colour of the water in and around the beaches towards the upper part of the bay.”
While conditions have eased and seem more settled for the rest of the week, BOM modelling suggests a low-pressure system may build off the south coast of New South Wales and potentially push back over East Gippsland on Saturday.
Depending on that rainfall, the bay’s water quality could stay impacted.
But Mr Taylor said swimmers should use common sense when visiting the beach.
“If the water doesn’t look clear, it’s possibly a good idea not to go swimming,” he said.
“If there’s debris in there, or oily like substances in the water, probably don’t go swimming.”
Source: abc.net.au
George Barham, an accomplished journalist and avid gambling enthusiast, serves as the esteemed Editor-in-Chief at fly-to-australia.com, Australia’s leading source for comprehensive gambling news and insights. With an unwavering passion for both the written word and the ever-evolving world of betting and gaming, George brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the helm of our editorial team.
