About the area
- The East Gippsland groundwater catchment is the easternmost groundwater catchment in Victoria.
- The East Gippsland groundwater catchment contains Orbost Groundwater Management Area (GMA). The area not covered by Orbost GMA is reported as outside management units.
- Groundwater supplies licensed entitlements (irrigation), domestic and stock use, and urban use to Mallacoota.
More information on water management and accounting is detailed in Water explained.
2021-22 overview
Urban supply
Groundwater supplied 1 town in the catchment.
Water use
Less water was used for consumptive purposes than the previous year.
Climate
Rainfall
Rainfall in the East Gippsland groundwater catchment was very much above average in most of the catchment, higher than the previous year. Rainfall received along the border with New South Wales north of Bonang was among the highest on record.
Groundwater level trends
In the accounts, groundwater level trends for groundwater management units (GMUs) have been determined based on monitoring data from key bores in the State Observation Bore Network. Trend determinations are made quarterly by comparing each reading to a previous reading in the same season 5 years prior. That is, a summer record is compared to the summer record from 5 years before to account for seasonality.
Groundwater resources are being actively managed. For more detail on the management responses go to the groundwater on the Southern Rural Water website.
In 2021-22, more groundwater level trends in the East Gippsland groundwater catchment were rising towards the end of the year.
Table 1: Groundwater level trends, East Gippsland groundwater catchment
Entitlements and use
Groundwater licence and use volumes in the East Gippsland groundwater catchment are shown below. Some groundwater licences incorporate domestic and stock use, and in these cases the use is reported in the licensed volume.
The licenced volume used under entitlements must not exceed the volume made available to individual licensed entitlement holders. We report on compliance in the GMU local report and the Statewide groundwater .
Water used
Use in the East Gippsland groundwater catchment was 237 ML, less than 335 ML in the previous year.
Entitlement volumes
Rights to water in the East Gippsland groundwater catchment are shown below.
Table 2: Groundwater entitlements, East Gippsland groundwater catchment
Available water and use
The table below shows the total water available and used under entitlements, and estimated domestic and stock use in 2021-22. Total water available under entitlements is the sum of: opening carryover, allocation issued and the net trade in or out of water.
Estimated domestic and stock use is calculated based on an assumed usage per registered bore per year. In this catchment 1.5 ML usage per bore per year is assumed.
More information on groundwater use and availability has been detailed in the How do we account for section.
In 2021-22, 237 ML of water was extracted for consumptive purposes, which was less than the 335 ML extracted in the previous year. Of this volume, 59 ML was for non-urban (irrigation) use, 89 ML was for urban use, and 89 ML was estimated to be for domestic and stock use.
There were no restrictions on use in the East Gippsland groundwater catchment in 2021-22.
Table 3: Groundwater availability and use, East Gippsland groundwater catchment
Management responsibilities
Management of water in the East Gippsland groundwater catchment is undertaken by Southern Rural Water.
| Authority | Management responsibilities |
|---|---|
| Southern Rural Water |
|
