DEECA Victorian Water Accounts 2023-24

About the area

The Portland groundwater management area (GMA) covers a deep confined sand aquifer with silts and clays, extending from the township of Portland, then north to the Wannon River and east to Tower Hill near Warrnambool.

This GMA fully underlies the Condah water supply protection area (WSPA) and partially underlies the South West Limestone GMA.

The water authority responsible for managing groundwater in the Portland GMA is Southern Rural Water.

The Portland GMA Local Management Plan applies to groundwater resources for all formations 200 m below the surface.

More information on groundwater management can be found on the Southern Rural Water website.

Groundwater level trends

In 2023-24, a groundwater level trend for the Portland GMA could not be determined towards the end of the year due to data availability, but it was declining in the prior September 2023 quarter.

Table 1: Groundwater level trends, Portland GMA

Groundwater management unit ^{1, 2}		2022-23	2023-24
Groundwater management area
Portland ³		Stable	Stable	Stable	Stable	Declining	Ins-Data	Ins-Data	Ins-Data

Groundwater management unit ^{1, 2}		2022-23	2023-24
Groundwater management area
Portland ³		Stable	Stable	Stable	Stable	Declining	Ins-Data	Ins-Data	Ins-Data

Response to water availability

Groundwater restrictions

There were no restrictions on licensed use in the Portland GMA in 2023-24.

Entitlements and use

Groundwater entitlements have been issued for licensed (non-urban) use and urban supply to Heywood, Port Fairy and Portland in the Portland GMA. Groundwater is also available for domestic and stock use.

Entitlement volumes

Table 2: Groundwater entitlements at 30 June, Portland GMA

Use type	2022-23 (ML)	2023-24 (ML)
Licensed use (non-urban)	213	213
Heywood urban	333	333
Port Fairy urban	1,026	1,026
Portland urban	6,222	6,222
Total	7,794	7,794

Use type	2022-23 (ML)	2023-24 (ML)
Licensed use (non-urban)	213	213
Heywood urban	333	333
Port Fairy urban	1,026	1,026
Portland urban	6,222	6,222
Total	7,794	7,794

Available water and take

The table below shows the total water available and taken under entitlements, and estimated domestic and stock use in 2023-24. 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 GMA, the assumed usage is 1.5 ML usage per bore per year.

More information on groundwater use and availability has been detailed in How we account for groundwater.

Table 3: Groundwater availability and take, Portland GMA

Use type	Available water (ML)	Water taken (ML)
Licensed use (non-urban)	0	213	0	213	0
Heywood urban	0	333	0	333	151
Port Fairy urban	0	1,026	0	1,026	628
Portland urban	0	6,222	0	6,222	836
Domestic & Stock	-	-	-	-	3
Total 2023-24	0	7,794	0	7,794	1,618
Total 2022-23	0	7,794	0	7,794	2,353

Use type	Available water (ML)	Water taken (ML)
Licensed use (non-urban)	0	213	0	213	0
Heywood urban	0	333	0	333	151
Port Fairy urban	0	1,026	0	1,026	628
Portland urban	0	6,222	0	6,222	836
Domestic & Stock	-	-	-	-	3
Total 2023-24	0	7,794	0	7,794	1,618
Total 2022-23	0	7,794	0	7,794	2,353

Compliance

Compliance against water entitlements is reported for this groundwater management unit (GMU) in 2 areas:

entitlement issued: that the volume of entitlements issued in the GMU does not exceed relevant permissible consumptive volumes (PCVs) or has not increased without appropriate approvals
water extracted: that 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

Entitlement volume did not exceed the PCV

The volume of entitlements (7,794 ML) in the Portland GMA did not exceed the PCV (7,795 ML).

Total volume extracted under licences was within the available volume

The total volume extracted under licences (1,615 ML) was within the volume available for the year (7,794 ML).

Table 4: PCV vs total entitlement volumes, Portland GMA

Groundwater management unit		PCV	Licensed entitlement (ML)	Water available under licences (ML)	Water taken under licences (ML)
Portland GMA		7,795	7,794	7,794	1,615

Groundwater management unit		PCV	Licensed entitlement (ML)	Water available under licences (ML)	Water taken under licences (ML)
Portland GMA		7,795	7,794	7,794	1,615

Management responsibilities

Management of water in the Portland GMA is undertaken by Southern Rural Water.

Authority	Management responsibilities
Southern Rural 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.

Authority

Management responsibilities

Southern Rural 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.

Nearby groundwater management units

Condah WSPA

Explore the Condah Water Supply Protection Area (WSPA).

Explore

South West Limestone GMA

Explore the South West Limestone Groundwater Management Area (GMA).

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Portland GMA

On this page:

In this area

About the area

Groundwater level trends

Table 1: Groundwater level trends, Portland GMA

Response to water availability

Groundwater restrictions

Entitlements and use

Entitlement volumes

Table 2: Groundwater entitlements at 30 June, Portland GMA

Available water and take

Table 3: Groundwater availability and take, Portland GMA

Compliance

Key points on compliance against entitlements

Entitlement volume did not exceed the PCV

Total volume extracted under licences was within the available volume

Table 4: PCV vs total entitlement volumes, Portland GMA

Management responsibilities

Nearby groundwater management units

Condah WSPA

South West Limestone GMA

Back to groundwater map

Victorian Water Accounts

Groundwater management unit ^{1, 2}	2022-23				2023-24
Groundwater management unit ^{1, 2}	Sep-22	Dec-22	Mar-23	Jun-23	Sep-23	Dec-23	Mar-24	Jun-24
Groundwater management area
Portland ³	Stable	Stable	Stable	Stable	Declining	Ins-Data	Ins-Data	Ins-Data

Use type	Available water (ML)				Water taken (ML)
Use type	Carryover	Licensed volume allocated	Net trade	Total water available	Water taken (ML)
Licensed use (non-urban)	0	213	0	213	0
Heywood urban	0	333	0	333	151
Port Fairy urban	0	1,026	0	1,026	628
Portland urban	0	6,222	0	6,222	836
Domestic & Stock	-	-	-	-	3
Total 2023-24	0	7,794	0	7,794	1,618
Total 2022-23	0	7,794	0	7,794	2,353