About the area
- The Stratford Groundwater Management Area (GMA) covers a deep confined sand aquifer with silt, clays and coals extending from Darlimurla to Kalimna, where it partially underlies the Wa De Lock GMA, and fully underlies the Denison GMA, Sale WSPA and Rosedale GMA.
- The water authority responsible for managing groundwater in the Stratford GMA is Southern Rural Water.
- The Stratford GMA Local Management Plan details two management zones, where it applies to groundwater resources for all formations below 150 m from the surface in zone 1 and below 350 m from the surface in zone 2.
- More information on groundwater management can be found on the Southern Rural website.
Groundwater restrictions
There were no restrictions on licensed use for the Stratford GMA in 2021-22.
Entitlements and use
Groundwater entitlements have been issued for licensed (non-urban) use and power generation use in the Stratford GMA. Groundwater is also available for domestic and stock use.
Entitlement volumes
Table 2: Groundwater entitlements at 30 June, Stratford GMA
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 GMA, 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: Available water and use, Stratford GMA
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
Current PCV compliance assessment criteria are not applicable in the Stratford GMA. The coal mine licences are in the Stratford GMA physical areas, but the licence volume and extraction are not assigned to or assessed against the GMA.
Total volume extracted under licences was within the available volume
The total volume extracted under licences (19,238 ML) was within the volume available for the year (20,452 ML).
Table 4: PCV vs total entitlement volumes, Stratford GMA
Management responsibilities
Management of water in the Stratford GMA is undertaken by Southern Rural Water.
| Authority | Management responsibilities |
|---|---|
| Southern Rural Water |
|
