About the area
- The Loddon groundwater catchment is in northern Victoria. It covers an area between Creswick and Swan Hill.
- The groundwater catchment includes the Mid Loddon Groundwater Management Area (GMA), Loddon Highlands Water Supply Protection Area (WSPA), and Central Victorian Mineral Springs GMA. The area not covered by GMUs is reported as outside management units.
- The Loddon Highlands WSPA extends into the Hopkins-Corangamite groundwater catchment. The Central Victorian Mineral Springs GMA extends into the Campaspe and West Port Phillip Bay groundwater catchments.
- Groundwater resources supply licensed entitlements, domestic and stock use, and urban use to Daylesford, Avoca, Clunes, Forest Hill, Learmonth, Lexton, Maryborough, and Waubra.
- The catchment is part of the Murray-Darling Basin, and groundwater management arrangements are subject to the requirements of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
More information on water management and accounting is detailed in Water explained.
2021-22 overview
Urban supply
Groundwater supplied 8 towns in the catchment.
Restrictions on use
Less than the previous year – no restrictions, 100% allocation for all management zones.
Water use
Less water was used for consumptive purposes than the previous year.
Climate
Rainfall
In 2021-22, more rainfall was received in the Loddon groundwater catchment than the previous year. Rainfall was:
- above average throughout the catchment from the Murray River in the north down to Lexton and Castlemaine in the south
- average in the far south from around Clunes to Daylesford.
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 Goulburn-Murray Water website.
In 2021-22, groundwater level trends in the Loddon groundwater catchment were fairly consistent with the previous year.
Table 1: Groundwater level trends, Loddon groundwater catchment
Response to water availability
Groundwater restrictions
There were no restrictions on licensed groundwater use in 2021-22. Unlike the previous year, when the Newlyn zone within the Loddon Highlands WSPA was restricted to 75% of licence volume.
Entitlements and use
Groundwater licence and use volumes in the Loddongroundwater 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 Loddon groundwater catchment was 22,311 ML, less than 25,266 ML in the previous year.
Entitlement volumes
Rights to water in the Loddongroundwater catchment are shown below.
Table 2: Groundwater entitlements at 30 June, Loddon 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 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.
In 2021-22, 22,311 ML of water was extracted for consumptive purposes, which was less than the 25,266 ML extracted in the previous year. Of this volume, 19,704 ML was for non-urban (irrigation) use, 653 ML was for urban use, and 1,954 ML was estimated to be for domestic and stock use.
There were no restrictions on use in the Loddon groundwater catchment in 2021-22.
Table 3: Groundwater availability and use, Loddon groundwater catchment
Management responsibilities
Management of water in the Loddon groundwater catchment is undertaken by Goulburn-Murray Water.
| Authority | Management responsibilities |
|---|---|
| Goulburn-Murray Water |
|
