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Goulburn-Murray Water (G-MW)

G-MW made its last allocation announcement for the 2008/09 season on 1 April 2009. The final seasonal allocations for high-reliability water shares were 35% on the Murray system, 33% on the Goulburn system and 0% for all other northern systems.

All late season resource improvements are reserved to secure water supplies in 2009/10.

The Minister for Water temporarily qualified rights to water in the Murray, Goulburn, Broken, Campaspe, Loddon and Bullarook systems this season to make sufficient water available for essential urban and farming needs.

Normal allocation rules resumed on the Goulburn and Murray systems during November when allocations reached 20%. The qualification on the Broken, Loddon, Bullarook, and Campaspe systems will remain in place until 30 June 2009.

G-MW updated the allocation outlook for the 2009/10 season on 15 May 2009.

Murray System Outlook

Goulburn System Outlook

Broken System Outlook

Campaspe System Outlook

All northern Victorian systems are expected to have zero seasonal allocation on 1 July.

Allocations in the 2009/10 season will depend completely on winter and spring inflows to storages. The resources available for allocation and system operations are at record low levels across much of northern Victoria. The remaining reserves are mostly carryover allocations held by irrigators and urban water corporations.

The 2009/10 outlooks are based on observed inflows in seasons following dry autumn inflows. This approach provides an adjustment for reduced runoff caused by dry catchments.

G-MW will announce the opening seasonal allocations for 2009/10 on Wednesday 1 July 2009.

Coliban Water

The irrigation season on the Coliban Rural System closed on 15 May with a 0% allocation.

Recycled water was available to customers on the Ascot, Axe Creek and Cockatoo Hill channel systems up to 40% of licence volume. Elsewhere in the rural system, a qualification of rights provided significant commercial operators with emergency supplies up to 30% of licence volume.

Wimmera Mallee Domestic and Stock Supply System

Towns and farms in supply systems 1, 2 and 5 are receiving full supply from the pipeline.

Trunk installation in supply systems 3 and 4 (Birchip and Wycheproof lines) is now complete between Taylors Lake and Lubeck. In supply system 4 (SS4) all towns on the trunk main have are connected and 60% of the distribution lines in SS4 are complete, with the installation of service connections on these lines well underway. In supply system 3, 95% of customers are connected. Last year’s winter channel run supplied towns and some large supply-by-agreement customers adjacent to the major channels (including Charlton feedlot, QAF Meats) in this area. Other needs are being met by carting. These stages are due to be commissioned late Sept 09.

Over 175 kilometres (of 850 km) of pipeline have been installed in supply system 6 to date and the construction of the Brimpaen storage has commenced. GWMWater is carting domestic water to farms with dams that have emptied or become unusable due to poor water quality.

The remaining pipelining of the Wimmera-Mallee system is estimated for completion by the end of 2009.

Southern Rural Water

Macalister Irrigation District (MID)

At the end of June, Lake Glenmaggie, the principal source of water for the MID, was at 21.6% of capacity. This is an increase of 2.6% over the month.

The 2008/09 irrigation season for the MID closed on 15 May, the final allocation for high reliability entitlements was 100% and 10% for low reliability entitlements.

Latrobe System

At the end of June, storage levels in Blue Rock Lake were at 69.8% of capacity.

The irrigation share of Blue Rock was 314 ML. SRW licence holders downstream on the Latrobe and Tanjil Rivers can pump up to their licence volume, but this is subject to the availability of unregulated river flows (which normally contribute approximately 70% of entitlements).

Werribee Basin

SRW’s share of the Werribee storages was at 2% of capacity at the end of June.

The 200/09 irrigation season closed on 30 June, the final allocation was 5% high reliability water share for the Werribee and Bacchus Marsh irrigation districts. Bacchus Marsh irrigators relied heavily on the Western Irrigation Contingency Plan in 2008/09.

Irrigators in the Werribee area continued to rely on the recycling scheme as their principal water source while the river flows are very low. The recycling scheme is providing about 60 ML/day, and approximately 95% of Werribee growers are participating.

SRW is preparing its Western Irrigation Contingency Plan for the 2009/10 season.

Maribyrnong Basin

The storage volume in Rosslynne Reservoir remained very low, at 3.1% of capacity at the end of May.

With inflows well below average, SRW diverters have another season of zero allocations.