About the area
The Avoca groundwater catchment is in north-western Victoria, and its northern boundary is the Murray River.
The groundwater catchment does not contain any groundwater management areas (GMAs) or water supply protection areas (WSPAs): all licence volume is reported as outside management units.
Groundwater resources within the catchment supply licensed entitlements, domestic and stock use, and urban use to Amphitheatre and Redbank.
The Avoca groundwater catchment forms 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.
2022-23 overview
Urban supply
Groundwater supplied to 1 town in the catchment.
Water use
Water used for consumptive purposes was similar to the previous year.
Climate
Rainfall
More rainfall was received in the Avoca groundwater catchment in 2022-23 than the previous year, being very much above the long-term average across the entire catchment.
Figure 1 displays the rainfall received in 2022-23 compared to the long-term average (1975-2023).
Figure 1: Rainfall deciles, Avoca groundwater catchment
Sourced from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology
Entitlements and use
Groundwater licence and use volumes in the Avoca groundwater catchment are shown below. Domestic and stock use does not require a licence, so in the Groundwater availability and use table, these rows only report water taken.
The licensed volume used under entitlements must not exceed the volume made available to individual licensed entitlement holders. We report on compliance in the GMU local reports and in Statewide groundwater.
Water used
Use in the Avoca groundwater catchment was 870 ML, similar to the 959 ML used in the previous year.
Entitlement volumes
Rights to water in the Avoca groundwater catchment are shown below.
Table 1: Groundwater entitlements at 30 June, Avoca 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 2022-23. 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, the assumed usage is 2 ML usage per bore per year.
More information on groundwater use and availability has been detailed in How we account for .
In 2022-23, 870 ML of water was extracted for consumptive purposes, which was similar to the 959 ML extracted in the previous year. Of this volume, 815 ML was for non-urban (irrigation) use, 3 ML was for urban use, and 52 ML was estimated to be for domestic and stock use.
There were no restrictions on use in the Avoca groundwater catchment in 2022-23.
Table 2: Groundwater availability and use, Avoca groundwater catchment
Management responsibilities
Management of water in the Avoca groundwater catchment is undertaken by various parties.
| Authority | Management responsibilities |
|---|---|
| Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water |
|
| Lower Murray Water |
|
