About the area
- The Katunga Water Supply Protection Area (WSPA) is located to the north of the Great Dividing Range and incorporates parts of the floodplains of the Murray River, Broken Creek and the Goulburn River.
- Rural centres within the boundary include Strathmerton, Cobram, Numurkah and Nathalia.
- The water authority responsible for managing groundwater in the Katunga WSPA is Goulburn-Murray Water.
- The Katunga WSPA Groundwater Management Plan applies to groundwater at depths from 25 m below ground surface to either 50 m into bedrock, or 200 m from surface, whichever is greater.
- More information on the WSPA can be found on the Goulburn-Murray website.
Groundwater level trends
Table 1: Groundwater level trends, Katunga WSPA
Groundwater restrictions
70% restriction for all zones in the Katunga WSPA
Licence holders in the Katunga WSPA were restricted to 70% of their licence volume in 2021-22, the same as the previous year.
Entitlements and use
Groundwater entitlements have been issued for licensed (non-urban) use and urban supply to Katunga and Strathmerton in the Katunga WSPA. Groundwater is also available for domestic and stock use.
Entitlement volumes
Table 2: Groundwater entitlements at 30 June, Katunga WSPA
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 of the in/out trade of water.
Estimated domestic and stock use is calculated based on an assumed usage per registered bore per year. In this WSPA, 2 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.
Table 3: Groundwater availability and use, Katunga WSPA
Compliance
Compliance against water entitlements is reported for this groundwater management unit (GMU) in two areas:
- entitlement issued: the volume of entitlements issued in the GMU does not exceed relevant PCVs or has not increased without appropriate approvals
- water extracted: the volume of water taken under entitlements during the year does not exceed the total water available to licence holders.
Key points on compliance against entitlements
Entitlement volume did not exceed the PCV
The volume of entitlements (60,201 ML) in Katunga WSPA did not exceed the PCV (60,577 ML).
Total volume extracted under licences was within the available volume
The total volume extracted under licences (14,923 ML) was within the volume available for the year (42,075 ML).
Table 4: PCV vs total entitlement volumes, Katunga WSPA
Management responsibilities
Management of water in the Katunga WSPA is undertaken by Goulburn-Murray Water.
| Authority | Management responsibilities |
|---|---|
| Goulburn-Murray Water |
|
