Irrigation Allocations - March 2010
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Goulburn-Murray Water (G-MW)
On 1 March, G-MW increased the allocation for high-reliability shares (HRWS) to 60% for the Goulburn system, 66% for the Murray system, 6% for the Broken system, and 15% for the Bullarook Creek system. Significant rainfall between 5 and 8 March resulted in allocation increases when the next announcement was made on 15 March. The allocations were raised to 69% for the Goulburn system, 78% for the Murray system, 13% for the Broken system, and 19% for Bullarook Creek. G-MW also announced the first opening allocation on the Loddon system (3%) since 2007/08. The allocation for the Campaspe system remains at zero.
At the end of March, 70% of Campaspe irrigators, holding over 90% of water shares in the district, voted to exit irrigated farming as part of the Northern Victorian Irrigation Renewal Project’s proposal for a Commonwealth buyout of water shares in the Campaspe Irrigation District.
Irrigation Allocations across Northern Victorian
| 31 March 2010 | Change over the month | |
|---|---|---|
| Goulburn | 69% | +11% |
| Murray | 78% | +15% |
| Broken | 13% | +9% |
| Campaspe | 0% | 0% |
| Loddon | 3% | +3% |
| Bullarook | 19% | +8% |
The Minister for Water temporarily qualified rights to water in the Murray, Goulburn, Broken, Campaspe, Loddon and Bullarook systems this season to ensure there was 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. The final service connections are being made to 260 rural customers who will be able to receive an emergency supply through the pipeline when the tappings are completed in in 2 weeks. Normal supply would be commence after pressure testing is completed in mid to late May.
Glenorchy is the only town in the entire system not yet connected to the pipeline. It is expected to be converted from channel supply to pipeline supply within two weeks.
Irrigation allocations are at 0%.
Southern Rural Water
Macalister Irrigation District (MID)
At the end of March, Lake Glenmaggie, the main source of water for the MID, was at 48.4% of capacity.
The seasonal allocation in the MID remained at 100% of HRWS during March. On 23 March, SRW increased the allocation against low-reliability shares (LRWS) to 20%.
The current volume in the Thomson/Macalister irrigators’ Thomson drought reserve is 15,247 ML.
A further qualification of rights is in place on the Thomson River. SRW is recording any loss of harvest rights, which will be offset by agreed arrangements to ensure irrigators are not disadvantaged.
Latrobe System
At the end of March, the storage level in Blue Rock Lake was 77.4% of capacity.
The irrigation share of Blue Rock was 1,494 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 11% of capacity at the end of March.
Southern Rural Water increased allocations by 2% to 14% for HRWS in the Bacchus Marsh and Werribee irrigation districts on 10 March as a result of major storms around 5-8 March.
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 will be able to deliver the equivalent of at least 34% of river water entitlements to Bacchus Marsh irrigators through a combination of the HRWS allocation and emergency supplies.
The Government announced on 16 March that Werribee and Bacchus Marsh irrigators would be able to access up to 5 GL of Melbourne’s water as a drought contingency measure.
Maribyrnong BasinThe storage volume in Rosslynne Reservoir remained very low at 4.5% of capacity at the end of March. SRW’s allocation for its licensed diverters remains at 0%.