DEECA Victorian Water Accounts 2022-23

About the area

The Wimmera-Mallee groundwater catchment is in north-western Victoria.

The Wimmera-Mallee groundwater catchment contains the Murrayville groundwater management area (GMA). The area not covered by Murrayville GMA is reported as outside management units.

Groundwater resources within the catchment supply licensed entitlements, domestic and stock use, and urban use to Cowangie, Landsborough, Murrayville and Willaura, and they provide a backup urban supply for Horsham.

The Wimmera-Mallee groundwater catchment forms part of the Murray-Darling Basin, and groundwater management arrangements are subject to the requirements of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

The area that extends 20 km east from the border forms part of the Designated Area for the purposes of the 1985 Border Groundwaters Agreement between Victoria and South Australia.

Management responsibilities within the Designated Area are shared between Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water and the Government of South Australia.

More information on water management and accounting is detailed in Water explained.

2022-23 overview

Urban supply

Groundwater supplied to 4 towns in the catchment.

Water use

Less water was used for consumptive purposes than the previous year.

Climate

Rainfall

More rainfall was received in the Wimmera-Mallee 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, Wimmera-Mallee groundwater catchment

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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 Groundwater on the Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water website.

In 2022-23, the groundwater level trend for the Murrayville GMA was stable towards the end of the year.

Table 1: Groundwater level trends, Wimmera-Mallee groundwater catchment

Groundwater management unit ^{1, 2}		2021-22	2022-23
Groundwater management area
Murrayville		Stable	Stable	Stable	Stable	Stable	Stable	Stable	Stable

Groundwater management unit ^{1, 2}		2021-22	2022-23
Groundwater management area
Murrayville		Stable	Stable	Stable	Stable	Stable	Stable	Stable	Stable

Entitlements and use

Groundwater licence and use volumes in the Wimmera-Mallee 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 Wimmera-Mallee groundwater catchment was 6,030 ML, less than the 7,717 ML used in the previous year.

Entitlement volumes

Rights to water in the Wimmera-Mallee groundwater catchment are shown below.

Table 2: Groundwater entitlements at 30 June, Wimmera-Mallee groundwater catchment

Groundwater management unit/Use type	2021-22 (ML)	2022-23 (ML)
Murrayville GMA
Licensed use (non-urban)	9,240	9,240
Cowangie urban	40	40
Murrayville urban	475	475
Outside management units
Licensed use (non-urban)	10,079	10,079
Horsham Mt Zero urban	1,200	1,200
Landsborough urban	150	150
Willaura urban ¹	220	220
Total	21,404	21,404

Groundwater management unit/Use type	2021-22 (ML)	2022-23 (ML)
Murrayville GMA
Licensed use (non-urban)	9,240	9,240
Cowangie urban	40	40
Murrayville urban	475	475
Outside management units
Licensed use (non-urban)	10,079	10,079
Horsham Mt Zero urban	1,200	1,200
Landsborough urban	150	150
Willaura urban ¹	220	220
Total	21,404	21,404

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 groundwater.

In 2022-23, 6,030 ML of water was extracted for consumptive purposes, which was less than the 7,717 ML extracted in the previous year. Of this volume, 5,427 ML was for non-urban (irrigation) use, 291 ML was for urban use, and 312 ML was estimated to be for domestic and stock use.

There were no restrictions on use in the Wimmera-Mallee groundwater catchment in 2022-23.

Table 3: Groundwater availability and use, Wimmera-Mallee groundwater catchment

Groundwater management unit/Use type	Available water (ML)	Water taken (ML)
Murrayville GMA
Licensed use (non-urban)	2,118	9,240	0	11,357	5,049
Cowangie urban	12	40	0	52	3
Murrayville urban	143	475	0	618	104
Domestic & stock	-	-	-	-	64
Outside management units
Licensed use (non-urban)	-	10,079	0	10,079	378
Horsham Mt Zero urban	-	1,200	0	1,200	0
Landsborough urban	-	150	0	150	32
Willaura urban ¹	-	220	0	220	152
Domestic & stock	-	-	-	-	248
Total 2022-23	2,273	21,404	0	23,676	6,030
Total 2021-22	2,482	21,434	0	23,916	7,717

Groundwater management unit/Use type	Available water (ML)	Water taken (ML)
Murrayville GMA
Licensed use (non-urban)	2,118	9,240	0	11,357	5,049
Cowangie urban	12	40	0	52	3
Murrayville urban	143	475	0	618	104
Domestic & stock	-	-	-	-	64
Outside management units
Licensed use (non-urban)	-	10,079	0	10,079	378
Horsham Mt Zero urban	-	1,200	0	1,200	0
Landsborough urban	-	150	0	150	32
Willaura urban ¹	-	220	0	220	152
Domestic & stock	-	-	-	-	248
Total 2022-23	2,273	21,404	0	23,676	6,030
Total 2021-22	2,482	21,434	0	23,916	7,717

Management responsibilities

Management of water in the Wimmera-Mallee groundwater catchment is undertaken by various parties.

Authority	Management responsibilities
Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water	Managing groundwater resources. Developing and implementing groundwater management plans. Issuing licences for groundwater use, bore construction, and surface water diversions. Administering water for domestic and stock use.
Lower Murray Water	Managing groundwater resources in northern area. Developing and implementing groundwater management plans. Issuing licences for groundwater use.
Government of South Australia	Management responsibilities within the Designated Area (an area that extends 20 km east from the South Australia border) are shared between Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water and the Government of South Australia.

Authority

Management responsibilities

Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water

Managing groundwater resources.

Developing and implementing groundwater management plans.

Issuing licences for groundwater use, bore construction, and surface water diversions.

Administering water for domestic and stock use.

Lower Murray Water

Managing groundwater resources in northern area.

Developing and implementing groundwater management plans.

Issuing licences for groundwater use.

Government of South Australia

Management responsibilities within the Designated Area (an area that extends 20 km east from the South Australia border) are shared between Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water and the Government of South Australia.

Nearby groundwater catchments

Avoca

Explore the Avoca groundwater catchment (GC).

Explore

West Wimmera

Explore the West Wimmera groundwater catchment (GC).

Explore

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Wimmera - Mallee

On this page:

In this area

About the area

2022-23 overview

Urban supply

Water use

Climate

Rainfall

Figure 1: Rainfall deciles, Wimmera-Mallee groundwater catchment

Groundwater level trends

Table 1: Groundwater level trends, Wimmera-Mallee groundwater catchment

Entitlements and use

Water used

Entitlement volumes

Table 2: Groundwater entitlements at 30 June, Wimmera-Mallee groundwater catchment

Available water and use

Table 3: Groundwater availability and use, Wimmera-Mallee groundwater catchment

Management responsibilities

Nearby groundwater catchments

Avoca

West Wimmera

Back to groundwater map

Victorian Water Accounts 2022-23

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Groundwater management unit ^{1, 2}	2021-22				2022-23
Groundwater management unit ^{1, 2}	Sep-21	Dec-21	Mar-22	Jun-22	Sep-22	Dec-22	Mar-23	Jun-23
Groundwater management area
Murrayville	Stable	Stable	Stable	Stable	Stable	Stable	Stable	Stable

Groundwater management unit/Use type	Available water (ML)				Water taken (ML)
Groundwater management unit/Use type	Carryover	Licensed volume allocated	Net trade	Total water available	Water taken (ML)
Murrayville GMA
Licensed use (non-urban)	2,118	9,240	0	11,357	5,049
Cowangie urban	12	40	0	52	3
Murrayville urban	143	475	0	618	104
Domestic & stock	-	-	-	-	64
Outside management units
Licensed use (non-urban)	-	10,079	0	10,079	378
Horsham Mt Zero urban	-	1,200	0	1,200	0
Landsborough urban	-	150	0	150	32
Willaura urban ¹	-	220	0	220	152
Domestic & stock	-	-	-	-	248
Total 2022-23	2,273	21,404	0	23,676	6,030
Total 2021-22	2,482	21,434	0	23,916	7,717