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, West Campaspe GMA and Central Victorian Mineral Springs GMA. The geographical area within the catchment containing licensed entitlement that is 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.
The West Campaspe GMA has not been gazetted; however, a local management plan was published in October 2024 by Goulburn-Murray Water.
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.
2024-25 overview
Urban supply
Groundwater supplied to 2 towns in the catchment.
Restrictions on use
The Barnadown management zone was restricted to 75% of licensed volume, the same as the previous year.
Water use
More water was used for consumptive purposes than the previous year.
Climate
Rainfall
Less rainfall was received in the Campaspe groundwater catchment in 2024-25 than the previous year, ranging from below the long-term average to the lowest recorded in the reference period (1975 to 2025) across the catchment. Rainfall was:
- below average in the catchment’s far north and far south to south-eastern boundary
- very much below average in catchment’s south around Kyneton and Redesdale, and in the north around Rochester and Lockington
- the lowest recorded in the reference period (1975 to 2025) in the centre of the catchment.
Figure 1 displays the rainfall received in 2024-25 compared to the long-term average (1975-2025).
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. These trends are shown in Table 1 below.
Groundwater level trends reporting in the Accounts does not necessarily represent the status of the resource for management purposes. Groundwater resources are actively managed by rural water corporations. For more detail on management responses, go to Groundwater on the Goulburn-Murray Water
In 2024-25, groundwater level trends for the West Campaspe and West Goulburn GMAs, and Lower Campaspe Valley WSPA were rising towards the end of the year, whereas the trends for the Central Victorian Mineral Springs and Shepparton Irrigation Region GMAs were stable.
Table 1: Groundwater level trends, Campaspe groundwater catchment
Response to water availability
Groundwater restrictions
In 2024-25, licence holders in Barnadown - a management zone in the Lower Campaspe Valley WSPA - were restricted to 75% of their licence volume, the same as the previous year.
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 take table (Table 3), 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 the Statewide groundwater summary.
Water used
Use in the Campaspe groundwater catchment was 43,464 ML, more than the 28,361 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 take
The table below shows the total water available and taken under entitlements, and estimated domestic and stock use in 2024-25. Total water available under entitlements is calculated as the sum of: opening carryover from the prior year (where available), allocation issued during the reporting year, and the net trade in or out of water, across all entitlements. The level of allocation issued is reduced if there are any restrictions in place.
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 per bore per year.
More information on groundwater use and availability has been detailed in How we account for
In 2024-25, 43,464 ML of water was extracted for consumptive purposes, which was more than the 28,361 ML extracted in the previous year. Of this volume, 40,465 ML was for non-urban (irrigation) use, 185 ML was for urban use, and 2,814 ML was estimated to be for domestic and stock use.
Table 3: Groundwater availability and take, 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 |
|
