Irrigation Allocations - February 2010
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Goulburn-Murray Water (G-MW)
On 1 February, G-MW increased the allocation for high-reliability shares (HRWS) by 1% to 56% for the Goulburn system. An opening allocation of 1% HRWS was announced on the Broken system. On 15 February, these allocations were raised to 58% for the Goulburn system, and 4% for the Broken system. The early February rainfall allowed the allocation improvements because of lower demand for water and thus lower releases from storages.
The allocation on the Murray and Bullarook systems remain unchanged during February at 63% and 11% HRWS respectively. Allocations are 0% for all remaining northern systems.
| 28 February 2010 | Change over the month | |
|---|---|---|
| Goulburn | 58% | +3% |
| Murray | 63% | 0% |
| Broken | 4% | +4 |
| Campaspe | 0% | 0% |
| Loddon | 0% | 0% |
| Bullarook | 11% | 0% |
The Minister for Water has temporarily qualified rights to water in the Murray, Goulburn, Broken, Campaspe, Loddon and Bullarook systems this season to ensure there is enough water available for essential urban and farming needs.
As the allocations on the Goulburn and Murray systems are now above 20%, essential needs for domestic and stock use and industry are no longer covered under the qualification. The qualification to cover essential needs on the Broken, Loddon, Bullarook, and Campaspe systems will remain in place until a 50% allocation is reached.
Seasonal Allocation Outlook for Northern Victoria – 2010/11
G-MW released the first seasonal allocation outlook for the 2010/11 season on 15 February 2010. Due to poor correlation between low summer inflows and winter/spring inflow conditions, G-MW has based its seasonal allocation assessment on the full inflow record available. G-MW has produced outlooks for Dry, Average and Wet inflow conditions to illustrate the range of possible allocations.
G-MW has advised that under dry and average inflow conditions, allocations are expected to be 0% for all systems on 1 July. Small allocations would be possible on some systems if wet conditions eventuated.
G-MW will release the next allocation outlook for the 2010/11 season on 17 May 2010. The first allocation announcement for the new season will be made on 1 July 2010.
Outlook for 16 August 2010
| Inflow Conditions | Murray | Broken | Goulburn | Campaspe | Loddon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wet | 69% | 86% | 73% | 100% | 100% |
| Average | 33% | 2% | 33% | 41% | 91% |
| Dry | 6% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Outlook for 15 October 2010
| Inflow Conditions | Murray | Broken | Goulburn | Campaspe | Loddon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wet | 100% | 97% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Average | 62% | 92% | 65% | 100% | 100% |
| Dry | 24% | 0% | 31% | 0% | 17% |
Outlook for 15 February 2011
| Inflow Conditions | Murray | Broken | Goulburn | Campaspe | Loddon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wet | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Average | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Dry | 48% | 0% | 43% | 6% | 47% |
Coliban Rural System
On 15 September, Coliban Water announced a 0% general allocation for the Coliban Rural System. Recycled water is available to customers on the Ascot and Axe Creek channel systems, equivalent to a 40% allocation.
The Minister for Water has qualified rights to water in the Coliban Rural System to allow Coliban Water to provide a 30% emergency supply to eligible customers.
Wimmera Mallee Domestic and Stock Supply System
All towns and rural customers connected to the pipeline are on Stage 1 restrictions.
The expected date for official completion of the pipeline is the end of April 2010. All trunk lines have now been installed and pressure tested. All that is remaining is the completion of the distribution lines that supply individual customers.
Towns and farms in supply systems 1, 2 and 5 are receiving full supply from the pipeline.
All towns in supply systems 3, 4 and 6 are now receiving piped supplies, as are several large Supply by Agreement customers. Rural customers are receiving an emergency supply as they are progressively connected to the pipeline. Those not yet connected to the pipeline system are eligible to receive water through GWMWater’s enhanced water carting program. All customers not yet connected to the pipeline are likely to start receiving an emergency supply through the pipeline by March 2010.
Glenorchy is the only town in the entire system not yet connected to the pipeline. A minor channel release to Glenorchy (less than 100 ML) will secure supplies to the town prior to connection.
Irrigation allocations are at 0%.
Southern Rural Water
Macalister Irrigation District (MID)
At the end of February, Lake Glenmaggie, the main source of water for the MID, was at 57.0% of capacity.
The seasonal allocation in the MID remained at 100% of HRWS during February. On 23 February, SRW announced a 10% allocation against low-reliability shares (LRWS).
The current volume in the Thomson/Macalister irrigators’ Thomson Drought Reserve is 14,844 ML.
Latrobe System
At the end of February, the storage level in Blue Rock Lake was 77.7% of capacity.
The irrigation share of Blue Rock was 1,424 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 9% of capacity at the end of February.
Southern Rural Water increased allocations by 2% to 12% for HRWS in the Bacchus Marsh and Werribee irrigation districts on 15 February as a result of major thunderstorms in and around Bacchus Marsh producing good inflows to Melton Reservoir.
Irrigators in the Werribee area continued to rely on the recycling scheme as their main water source while the river flows are very low. The recycling scheme is providing about 65 ML/day shared between 90% of Werribee growers.
The Western Irrigation Contingency Plan for the 2009/10 season is progressing. Emergency supplies this year are more limited than in previous years. While the situation across the whole Werribee basin remains serious, SRW is particularly concerned about Bacchus Marsh irrigators who do not have access to recycled water and rely on dwindling surface water resources and expensive emergency supplies. SRW aims to deliver at the equivalent of at least 34% of river water entitlements to Bacchus Marsh irrigators through a combination of the HRWS allocation and emergency supplies.
Maribyrnong Basin
The storage volume in Rosslynne Reservoir remained very low at 4.7% of capacity at the end of February. SRW’s allocation for its licensed diverters remains at 0%.