One of G-MW's core business functions is to manage water resources
as the Government appointed Resource Manager for northern Victorian
water systems. The other functions include implementing Government
regulations and policy for surface and groundwater, water share and
allocation trading, water use licensing, and making the seasonal
allocation determinations for all Victorian Murray entitlement holders.
G-MW's
responsibility also includes compliance, billing administration and
customer service.
Water Availability in Regulated Systems
For the fourth consecutive year, there was no allocation announced
on 1 July. However, water availability rapidly improved and by 16
August
2010 all systems had an allocation of 20% of high reliability water
share (HRWS). This was the first time since 2002 that every system had
an
allocation at the start of the irrigation season. Allocations in all
systems reached 100% HRWS by 15 November. Entitlement holders in the
Broken,
Campaspe and Bullarook systems also all received a 100% low
reliability water share (LRWS) allocation, the first time any
allocations had been
made for LRWS.
Water Trading
High seasonal allocations coupled with large volumes of water
carried over from the previous year and low irrigation demand meant
there
was less reliance on trade to source water allocation. Consequently,
there was a substantial reduction in water allocation trade application
numbers in 2010/11. The total number of applications processed was
3,205 which compared to 7,846 in the previous year. While the number of
applications processed in 2010/11 was significantly lower than last
year, the volume of water traded was high in comparison with 1,130, 930
ML
traded compared to 603,997ML in the previous year. This was
partially due to increased activity by environmental and institutional
water owners
transferring water allocation between their accounts. Trade
suspensions were introduced by the Victorian Minister for Water in April
and May 2011
aimed at protecting the seasonal allocations available to Victorian
entitlement holders for 2011/12.
Business Transactions
G-MW improved processing timeframes for water trading applications
in 2010/11 through the development and implementation of a new tailored
business system. This initiative was introduced for water share
trading in July 2010 and allocation trading in March 2011 and saw
average processing
times reduce by approximately 50%.
In its role as delegate for the Minister for Water, G-MW processes
applications relating to water entitlements, delivery shares and
licensing in
the Victorian Water Register. As a major partner in the Water
Register, which is managed by DSE, G-MW continues to play a lead role in
the
development of policy and improvements relating to the system. In
2010/11the Water Register underwent a substantial program of
enhancements
aimed at improving the management of water entitlement data, land
information, licensing records and interstate trading.
2010/11 Water Share Ballot
In early July 2010 G-MW held a ballot to determine the order in
which water share trade applications subject to the annual 4% trade-out
limits
were processed. In total 877 applications for just under 130,000 ML
of water shares were lodged during the three week ballot lodgement
period
with the majority of entitlement holders seeking to sell water
shares to the Commonwealth Government under the water entitlement
buyback
program.
The 4% limits were reached in all of the major Irrigation Areas
during the ballot processing period with a total of 588 applications or
75,100 ML of
water shares approved for transfer.
Bore Construction Licences
Seasonal conditions saw a significant reduction in the number of
bore construction licences issued in the 2010/11 irrigation season. For
the first time
in many years customers were able to rely on surface water access
and did not seek to construct groundwater bores as a method of securing
an
alternative source of water.
Carryover by G-MW Customers
The 2010/11 marked the first season customers on the Goulburn,
Campaspe and Murray system had unlimited carryover due to the further
extension of carry over rules which removed the 100% of water share
limit provided that there was sufficient storage capacity available.
Many
water users had large volumes of unused allocation in 2009/10 due
partly to the late increases in seasonal allocations. At the start of
2010/11,
G-MW customers had carried over about 588,000 ML of unused
allocation from the previous season. This was over three times the
volume carried
over into the 2009/10 season.
Spillable Water Accounts and Spill Declaration
For each water share holder with a linked water use licence, any
allocation that was unused at the end of the 2009/10 season in the
Murray,
Goulburn and Campaspe systems that was above the volume of 100% of
HRWS and 100% of LRWS was carried over in Spillable Water Accounts
(SWAs). Water remains in SWAs until the declaration that the
probability the storage will spill is low.
On 1 July 2010, the Resource Manager for Northern Victoria
determined that the probability of spill at Lake Eildon, Dartmouth
Reservoir and Lake
Eppalock was low which enabled water in SWAs to become available for
use or trade in the 2010/11 season.
Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy
The Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy (NRSWS) was
released by the Victorian Government in November 2009. The strategy
addresses
water management challenges and risks including those arising from
drought and climate change through 17 new policies and 51 actions to
implement those policies. Since the NRSWS was released G-MW has been
working on implementating of the actions. Water users have benefited
from the completed actions including the introduction of the
Goulburn system reserve policy, extended carryover provisions and new
dairy wash
licensing. The return flow pilot study was completed and rules
developed and implemented.
Work is continuing on actions such as; new Reserve Policy in the
Murray system, trading rules in the Ovens/King and Broken basins,
carryover rules in
the Loddon, Broken and Bullarook systems, registration of Domestic
and Stock (D&S) dams in rural residential areas, developing
reasonable D&S use
guidelines, review of guidelines and licence conditions and review
of records for unregulated stream and groundwater licenses, local
management rules for
unregulated streams and groundwater systems, development of
Management Plans for the Lower Campaspe, Loddon Highlands and Upper
Ovens areas,
new reticulation systems for D&S rights for environmental
deliveries in irrigation delivery systems, review of riparian management
plans and development
of revised salinity management arrangements. The work on these
initiatives will continue through 2011/12 and be implemented
progressively.
Qualification of Rights
Qualifications of Rights declared by the Minister for Water
continued to give customers access to water for specific purposes
including use inside
the home, stock watering and dairy washdown during periods early in
the season when water availability was low. Qualifications of Rights for
the Murray, Goulburn and Broken systems were revoked in October 2010
once allocations exceeded critical thresholds. Qualifications of Rights
remained in effect in the Loddon and Campaspe systems until they
expired on 30 June 2011, to ensure aspects of the Qualifications
relating to
minimum passing flows could continue.
Goulburn System Water Quality Reserve
The Goulburn Bulk Entitlement (BE) Order requires G-MW to set
aside or reserve 30,000 ML annually to make provision for a source of
water to
address water quality risks in the Goulburn River and lower Broken
Creek systems. This provision is sometimes referred to as the Goulburn
Water
Quality Reserve. The history of use of this provision is shown in the
following table.
Environmental Watering
The focus of environmental watering changed
from managing low volumes in 2009/10 to
responding to water quality issues associated
with higher flows following some of the
highest stream flows for over 15 years. When
low dissolved oxygen levels in the River
Murray were identified, water from the Living
Murray entitlements in the Goulburn was
used to attempt to raise the oxygen levels in
the River Murray. As the low dissolved oxygen
levels spread to the Goulburn River, further
water was sourced from the Murray Flora
and Fauna, Goulburn Water Quality Reserve
and the Commonwealth Environmental
Water Holder.
During periods of unregulated flows in
the River Murray, water was delivered to
Round Lake, Cullens Lake, Hird Swamp and
McDonald’s Swamp.
The Barmah-Millewa forest was flooded on
a number of occasions from high tributary
flows upstream of Yarrawonga. To ensure
flows through the Barmah-Millewa forest
remained high enough to encourage bird
breeding after the upstream tributary flows
had receded, flows in the River Murray
were supported from the Living Murray
and Barmah-Millewa Forest entitlements.
The Commonwealth Environmental Water
Holder provided water for environmental
flows in the Goulburn, Broken, Campaspe
and Loddon Rivers during 2010/11.
The Basin Plan
The MDBA continued to prepare the Basin
Plan, as required by the Commonwealth Water
Act (2007) throughout 2010/11.
The Basin Plan is a management plan
for the surface waters, groundwater and
environmental resources of the Murray-
Darling Basin which will set the framework for
the Water Management Plans to be prepared
by each State Government. The Basin Plan
will, amongst other things, set the sustainable
diversion limits (SDLs) on the quantities of
water that can be used. SDLs are intended
to ensure that sufficient water remains in the
rivers to provide for long term sustainability.
G-MW participated in the MDBA forums,
workshops and meetings of stakeholders
and expert reference panels prior to and
following the release of the Guide to Draft
Basin Plan in October 2010. The Guide was
released to gauge public reaction to a range
of water recovery scenarios. Comment was
sought with the intention to release the draft
Plan in early 2011.
The draft Plan indicated significant reductions
to the diversions in river basin managed
by G-MW and entitlements by G-MW
customers, and changed groundwater
management arrangements. These changes
had potentially serious effects on the future
viability of irrigation. G-MW prepared a
response, which included comment from the
Water Services Committees, and this was
lodged in December 2010.
Following the MDBA’s public engagement
phase in late 2010, a series of further
enquires were undertaken. G-MW made
representations to these enquires and to the fact-finding delegations which have visited
the region. The MDBA is now preparing the
draft Basin Plan for release in 2011.
eWater CRC
eWater CRC is developing water
management software for its partners.
G-MW is a partner of eWater and through
our investment in funding and in-kind staff
support will share in the advancement of
water management technology. G-MW has
been a funding partner of the eWater CRC
since its inception and 2010/11 was the sixth
year of the seven year program life.
eWater Source is an integrated ecohydrological
modelling platform for water
resource planning and management which
addresses the full water cycle. This system is
designed to meet the hydrological modelling
needs of Australian governments, agencies
and authorities, including G-MW, for at least
the next decade. For G-MW, the two key
products in this platform are Source Rivers,
previously known as River Manager, and
Source Catchments, previously known as
WaterCAST.
G-MW is contributing to the development
and testing of Source Rivers through the
provision of staff from the Water Resources
Unit with river and storage operating
experience. Source Catchments continues to
be used for the development of water quality
models and the emphasis has been on the
Lake Eppalock catchment for the application
of this model. G-MW is contributing to the
northern Victorian focus catchment project
through the provision of data and advice
from staff experienced in river operations
and water quality management. This project
applies the eWater software tools to improve
understanding of the flows and ecological
responses in the Goulburn and Ovens Rivers.
Dairy Shed Water Licensing Transition Program
The issuing of licences under the Dairy Shed
Water Licence Transition Program is now
well underway, with just over 240 licences
already issued or increased. However in some
areas dairy shed groundwater licences cannot
be issued until entitlement caps, known as
Permissible Consumptive Volumes (PCVs),
are adjusted. G-MW will shortly provide the
information necessary to allow these PCV
changes to take place. Once these PCVs are
changed; which is expected later in 2011, the
remaining licences can be issued.
Groundwater
G-MW has the responsibility for licensing and
managing about half of Victoria’s groundwater
resources and has a vital role in ensuring
groundwater use is sustainable. G-MW
is also delegated to issue licences to take
and use groundwater under the Water Act
1989 and, in doing so, making sure needs of
existing water users and the environment are
considered.
During 2010/11 G-MW successfully
completed a number of important
groundwater resource appraisal projects to
provide the technical understanding required
to develop Local Management Rules and
Management Plans, including:
- Drilling 77 new monitoring bores
under the State Observation Bore
Refurbishment Project, taking the total
to 192 across the G-MW region.
- Groundwater appraisals in the Goulburn-
Broken Catchment, Mineral Springs
region of Central Victoria, Ovens and
King Valleys.
- Gaining important insights from 3D
mapping of aquifers in the Loddon
and Campaspe Catchments.
Improvement in groundwater resource
position
Aquifer levels across G-MW's region
recovered significantly during 2010/11 as a
result of above average rainfall and flooding.
A positive aspect of the summer floods
has been the response seen in aquifers,
particularly in the Loddon and Campaspe
catchments. Many observation bores showed
groundwater levels similar to those seen
nearly a decade ago.
Groundwater management and planning
Shepparton Irrigation Region - towards a
new management framework - G-MW is
undertaking a National Water Commission
(NWC) funded water resources project to
develop a new groundwater management
framework for the Shepparton Irrigation
Region Water Supply Protection Area
(WSPA). The WSPA for this shallow alluvial
aquifer extends from Rochester in the
west to Yarrawonga in the east and from
Murchison in the south to the Murray River.
A new more flexible management framework
is required to facilitate groundwater pumping
during wet periods to reduce the risk of
shallow groundwater salinity impacts, as well
as maintaining access to groundwater during
droughts. The project, due for completion
in December 2011, involves significant
stakeholder consultation and social research
into groundwater user behaviours and
aspirations. This information will be vital
to the development of new management
arrangements.
Improving alignment of groundwater
management between Victoria and NSW -
The objective of a second NWC funded
project is to investigate the opportunity
for greater alignment of groundwater
management across the New South Wales
- Victoria border. This project will culminate
in a strategic workshop bringing together
groundwater decision makers from Victoria,
NSW, the MDBA and the National Water
Commission. The project is scheduled for
completion in December 2011.
Upper Ovens River Water Management Plan
draft completed - Managing groundwater and
surface water as a single resource is the focus
of a draft management plan just completed
by the Upper Ovens River Water Supply
Protection Area Consultative Committee.
As at June 2011 the Draft Upper Ovens
Water Management Plan has been completed
after having being released for public
comment in April and following community
consultation meetings.
New Management Plans being developed in
Lower Campaspe Valley and Loddon Highlands
Water Supply Protection Areas - During
2010/11 two consultative committees were
appointed to draft groundwater management
plans for the new Lower Campaspe Valley
and Loddon Highlands Water Supply
Protection Areas. Plans will consider trigger
levels and associated seasonal restrictions,
rules for transfer and carry over of water
entitlements, as well as monitoring and
reporting requirements. The committees will
consult with communities before completing
their groundwater management plans by
March 2012 for submission to the Minister
for Water for approval.
