Irrigation Allocations - July 2011
On this page
The final allocation announcement for the northern Victorian systems was made on 1 April, with no changes to allocations. There were no changes to allocations in southern Victorian systems during June. The 2010/11 season finished with full allocations on all of Victoria’s major irrigation systems.
The 2011/12 season commences on 1 July with opening allocation announcements from Southern Rural Water and Goulburn-Murray Water. Thanks to an above average year of inflows during 2010/11, starting allocations are expected on all major irrigation systems.
Surface Water Irrigation Allocations across Northern Victorian
| Water Corporation | System | HWRS Allocation | LRWS Allocation | % Change over the month | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Golburn Murray Water
|
Murray | 33% | - | +33 | G-MW made its first announcement on 1 July. Allocations increased on all systems except Campaspe with the second announcement on 15 July. Next announcement 1 August. |
| Goulburn | 60% | - | +60 | ||
| Campaspe | 100% | 47% | +147 | ||
| Broken | 20% | - | +20 | ||
| Loddon | 60% | - | +60 | ||
| Bullarook | 100% | 100% | +200 | ||
| Southern Rural Water | Werribee & Bacchus Marsh | 100% | 15% | +115 | Next announcement 8 August. |
| Macalister Irrigation District | 90% | - | +90 | Next announcement 15 December. River diverters can access spill entitlement until 1 August. | |
| Coliban Water | Coliban Rural System | TBA% | - | - | 2011/12 announcement due 15 September. |
| Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water | Wimmera Mallee Supply System | 0% | - | - | Announced 11 July. |
Goulburn-Murray Water (G-MW)
Northern Victoria Seasonal Irrigation Outlook
Goulburn-Murray Water (G-MW) updated the seasonal allocation outlook for the 2011/12 season on 15 July 2011.
The Campaspe system has a 100% allocation for HRWS, and a 47% allocation for LRWS and therefore no outlook is provided for this system. The Broken system has a 20% allocation for HRWS. The Broken system is not represented in the table below, as G-MW announced it expects a 100% allocation for HRWS on this system by Spring 2011.
The next seasonal outlook will be released on 15 August 2011. To view the latest outlook click here.
High Reliability Allocation Outlook 2011/12 at 15 July
Outlook for 15 August 2011
| Inflow Conditions | Murray | Goulburn | Loddon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wet | 57% | 100% | 100% |
| Average | 47% | 94% | 94% |
| Dry | 44% | 78% | 78% |
Outlook for 17 October 2011
| Inflow Conditions | Murray | Goulburn | Loddon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wet | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Average | 86% | 100% | 100% |
| Dry | 76% | 100% | 100% |
Outlook for 15 December 2011
| Inflow Conditions | Murray | Goulburn | Loddon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wet | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Average | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Dry | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Wimmera Mallee Supply System
GWMWater did not make an allocation for irrigators on the Wimmera Mallee Supply System with its allocation announcement on 11 July. The Wimmera Irrigation Association is continuing to negotiate a sale of the irrigation entitlement to the Commonwealth Government, and the channel run has been deferred until the outcome of the sale is known. GWMWater has not delivered irrigation supplies for around 10 years.
Coliban Rural System
Coliban Water will announce its 2011/12 opening allocation in September 2011.
Southern Rural Water
Macalister Irrigation District (MID)
Following a season of below average demand, the 2011/12 season opened with Lake Glenmaggie sitting at 82.2% full. As a result of this unusually high storage level for this time of year, Southern Rural Water have lowered the storage to mitigate downstream flooding risk over winter and spring, with a target to ensure the storage is filled before the commencement of the late-spring and summer period.
The season opened with a maximum allocation of 90% for HRWS, the highest possible allocation during the spilling season. Spill entitlement has been made available to river diverters until 1 August, with the potential to extend this access if inflows continue. The current allocation will be reviewed following the end of the spilling period on 15 December.
Latrobe System
The power stations’, GW’s and SRW’s shares of Blue Rock were at 100 per cent at the end of July. There is enough water in the system to supply power stations, industry and towns in the Latrobe Valley for the next 12 months even if conditions are dry.
Licence holders downstream on the Latrobe and Tanjil Rivers are permitted to take up to their licence volume.
Werribee Basin
SRW’s share of the Werribee storages was at 90% of capacity at the end of July.
The 2011/12 season opened with 100% allocation for HRWS and 5% for LRWS. The LRWS increased to 15% by the end of the month.
Maribyrnong Basin
Storage levels in Rosslynne Reservoir increased slightly during July, finishing the month at 67.3% of capacity.
SRW’s waterway diverters on Jackson Creek can now access 100% of licensed volume, while Melbourne Water’s licence holders in the Keilor region continue to access unregulated flows downstream of Rosslynne Reservoir.