About the area
The Campaspe groundwater catchment is in northern Victoria. It extends from the Great Dividing Range at Woodend and Trentham in the south to the Murray River near Echuca in the north.
The Campaspe groundwater catchment contains the Lower Campaspe Valley water supply protection area (WSPA), Shepparton Irrigation Region groundwater management area (GMA), West Goulburn GMA, and Central Victorian Mineral Springs GMA. The area not covered by these is reported as outside management units.
The Shepparton Irrigation Region GMA and West Goulburn GMA extend into the Goulburn-Broken groundwater catchment. The Central Victorian Mineral Springs GMA straddles this catchment and the Loddon and West Port Phillip Bay groundwater catchments.
Groundwater resources within the catchment supply licensed entitlement (irrigation), domestic and stock use, and urban use to Elmore and Trentham.
The Campaspe groundwater 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.
2022-23 overview
Urban supply
Groundwater supplied to 2 towns in the catchment.
Restrictions on use
Lower Campaspe Valley WSPA was restricted to 75% of licence volume, like the previous year.
Water use
Less water was used for consumptive purposes than the previous year.
Climate
Rainfall
More rainfall was received in the Campaspe 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, Campaspe groundwater catchment
Sourced from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology
Groundwater level trends
In the Accounts, groundwater level trends for groundwater management units (GMUs) have been determined by 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; for example, a summer record is compared to the summer record from 5 years earlier to account for seasonality.
Groundwater resources are being actively managed. For more detail on management responses, go to on the Goulburn-Murray Water website.
In 2022-23, groundwater level trends for the Central Victorian Mineral Springs GMA and Lower Campaspe Valley WSPA were rising towards the end of the year. Trends for the Shepparton Irrigation Region and West Goulburn GMAs were stable towards the end of the year.
Table 1: Groundwater level trends, Campaspe groundwater catchment
Response to water availability
Groundwater restrictions
Annual groundwater allocations in the Lower Campaspe Valley WSPA are determined by comparing the average of annual maximum groundwater recovery levels recorded in key state observation bores from the previous 3 water years (i.e. a 3-year rolling average) against trigger levels outlined in Prescription 1 of the Lower Campaspe Valley WSPA Groundwater Management Plan (the Plan).
In 2022-23, Goulburn-Murray Water announced an allocation of 75% for all management zones in the Lower Campaspe Valley WSPA for the year. This is the third time a restriction has been placed on licensed groundwater extraction since the Plan was implemented.
Allocations in all other GMUs in the catchment were not restricted.
Entitlements and use
Groundwater licence and use volumes in the Campaspe 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 Campaspe groundwater catchment was 16,196 ML, less than the 33,970 ML used in the previous year.
Entitlement volumes
Rights to water in the Campaspe groundwater catchment are shown below.
Table 2: Groundwater entitlements at 30 June, Campaspe 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, 16,196 ML of water was extracted for consumptive purposes, which was less than the 33,970 ML extracted in the previous year. Of this volume, 13,284 ML was for non-urban (irrigation) use, 130 ML was for urban use, and 2,782 ML was estimated to be for domestic and stock use.
Table 3: Groundwater availability and use, Campaspe groundwater catchment
Management responsibilities
Management of water in the Campaspe groundwater catchment is undertaken by Goulburn-Murray Water.
| Authority | Management responsibilities |
|---|---|
| Goulburn-Murray Water |
|
