Groundwater SAFE (secure allocations, future entitlements)
Project details
| Objective: | To improve the management of groundwater in Victoria, to support development of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and the delivery of National Water Initiative objectives. |
| Funding: |
$2.4 million plus GST |
| Jurisdiction: | Victoria |
| Commencing: | July 2009 |
| Completion: | March 2012 |
About the project
Victoria has many water-management areas, some of which cover only a small part of the state (approximately 20%). The geographical boundaries of many of these areas, especially those in northern Victoria, do not align with their underlying groundwater resources. This has made it difficult for regional water plans to properly quantify groundwater resources, including the entire extent of aquifers, its groundwater movement and interactions, and beneficial uses (from drinking water to environmental protection).
This project will determine groundwater management boundaries that are aligned with surface water boundaries, taking into account those that currently exist. A permissible consumptive volume (PCV) or sustainable yield will be assessed for each groundwater-management area, taking into account water users, environmental water needs, and interactions between surface water and groundwater.
Two projects will be undertaken in collaboration with the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment:
1. Groundwater SAFE
This project will create a suite of management areas, each with a PCV that takes into account interactions between surface water and groundwater as well as groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs). Where GDEs are identified as being stressed and the GDE has high ecological or social values, site-specific assessments will be carried out. Groundwater levels can then be set that protect the GDE.
2. GDEs and management plans
This project will develop and apply a new methodology for consideration of GDEs when management plans are created or reviewed, or to apply to management rules.
Project benefits
At a state level, the project will contribute to the development of state-wide caps for groundwater areas in Victoria. This will facilitate groundwater trading as well as allowing for development of the groundwater resource in areas of low use. Without groundwater boundaries and caps on the resource, there is no incentive to trade. The environmental benefits of groundwater for each area will be considered in determining state-wide caps. This will build on work already under way by the Victorian Government to identify GDEs across the state.
At a national level, the project will remove impediments to the development of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and will also ensure that the objectives of the National Water Initiative are met and applied across Victoria.