About the area
- The Seaspray groundwater catchment is in Victoria’s south-east.
- The Seaspray groundwater catchment contains the Giffard Groundwater Management Area (GMA), Yarram Water Supply Protection Area (WSPA), and Stratford GMA. The area not covered by GMUs is reported as outside management units.
- The Stratford GMA and the Yarram WSPA extend into the Central Gippsland groundwater catchment.
- Groundwater resources supply licensed entitlements, domestic and stock use, and urban use to Yarram. Groundwater use in the Seaspray groundwater catchment is mostly for irrigation.
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.
Climate
Rainfall
Rainfall in the Seaspray groundwater catchment was above average in most areas, slightly lower than the previous year. Rainfall was:
- above average in most of the catchment.
- average in the far west around the Agnes River and in a small pocket along the coast around Jack Smith Lake.
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, groundwater level trends in the Seaspray groundwater catchment were more stable than the previous year.
Table 1: Groundwater level trends, Seaspray groundwater catchment
Entitlements and use
Groundwater licence and use volumes in the Seaspray 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 Seaspray groundwater catchment was 5,482 ML, less than 8,548 ML in the previous year.
Entitlement volumes
Rights to water in the Seaspray groundwater catchment are shown below.
Table 2: Groundwater entitlements at 30 June, Seaspray 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, except for Stratford GMA, with 2 ML per bore per year assumed.
More information on groundwater use and availability has been detailed in the How do we account for section.
In 2021-22, 5,482 ML of water was extracted for consumptive purposes, which was less than the 8,548 ML extracted in the previous year. Of this volume, 4,957 ML was for non-urban (irrigation) use, and 525 ML was estimated to be for domestic and stock use.
There were no restrictions on use in the Seaspray groundwater catchment in 2021-22.
Table 3: Groundwater availability and use, Seaspray groundwater catchment
Management responsibilities
Management of water in the Seaspraygroundwater catchment is undertaken by Southern Rural Water.
| Authority | Management responsibilities |
|---|---|
| Southern Rural Water |
|
