State Observation Bore Network
The State Observation Bore Network (SOBN) is the collection of bores, installed by the State Government, for the specific purposes of monitoring the movement, availability and quality of Victorian groundwater, and the linkages between groundwater and surface water systems throughout the state.
In addition to the range of SOBN data reports available below, the Monthly Water Report provides quarterly updates of some of the information that is gathered through the SOBN.
To ensure that the quality of groundwater information gathered through the SOBN is continually improved, the Victorian Government has initiated the SOBN Refurbishment Project. In partnership with Goulburn-Murray Water, GWMWater and Southern Rural Water, this DSE funded project is:
- upgrading aging infrastructure
- addressing problems of failed or blocked bores
- improving distribution of bores in key areas
- improving the data and information that is collected.
A key area of the project is the rationalisation of the number of bores in the network to ensure that they are sited in the best locations to provide a baseline understanding of Victoria’s groundwater resource. The decommissioning of observation bores that have failed or no longer provide critical data is one aspect of the refurbishment project. The decommissioning of the Killarney bore near Port Fairy was documented on film to explain the work involved in a bore decommissioning.
