Your - theage.com.au link is paywalled so useless
BoM says Melbourne dams are currently 72.5% full - so I do not think the long suffering Melbourne people are dying of thirst in the streets yet
http://www.bom.gov.au/water/dashboards/#/water-storages/summary/urban?location=Melbourne
there has never been any need for the Vic desal plant - it has been a waste of $Billions of Aussie taxpayer kangaroos
