No Change to Seasonal Allocations on 15 August 2008

Determination Data

Seasonal determinations for northern Victoria regulated river systems.

Further Information

No changes were made to seasonal allocations today as Goulburn-Murray Water (G-MW) announced all regulated water systems in northern Victoria had 0% of high-reliability water shares.

"Inflows to storages have remained well below average despite the rainfall of recent weeks," said G-MW Managing Director David Stewart. "The shortfall to meeting our operating requirements is slowly reducing."

The shortfalls to an irrigation allocation in the Murray and Goulburn systems have reduced to 144 gigalitres (GL) and 126 GL respectively since the shortfalls were described in G-MW's Industry Bodies Forum held in Tatura on 7 August 2008.

"We are concerned by the low rates of improvement in water availability to make good the present shortfalls, particularly in the smaller systems managed by G-MW," said Mr Stewart. "The qualified essential needs and carryover in the Broken, Campaspe, Loddon and Bullarook systems are secured, but based on current inflows, we are still a long way from being able to operate normally in those systems."

Domestic and stock water, and the delivery of some carryover, will be available in both the Murray and Goulburn systems throughout the year. "It is reassuring to know that the channel system in the Murray system is now able to operate for domestic and stock needs throughout the season, provided that inflows remain higher than the extremely low flows experienced in 2006," said Mr Stewart.

Access to Carryover

River diversion customers in the regulated Murray and Goulburn systems can place orders for delivery of carryover at any time. Limited access to carryover is available to customers in the pumped districts of the Murray system in accordance with the operating schedules prepared by the water corporations.

"Customers seeking to take delivery of carryover water should contact their local operations personnel to discuss arrangements," said Mr Stewart. "The operating plans are being regularly updated to provide water where and when it is needed."

Irrigation Season and Outlooks

"15 August is the traditional start of the irrigation season for channel-supplied customers," said Mr Stewart. "With the low resources, we are delaying channel operations until there is confirmed demand."

The outlooks for seasonal allocations in the Murray and Goulburn water systems are presented below, and are based on current inflow conditions and monthly inflow records from seasons with low winter inflows.

The following terminology is used in the tables:

            ‘Wet'               - Inflow volumes that have 1 chance in 10 of being exceeded

            ‘Average'         - Inflow volumes that have 5 chances in 10 of being exceeded

            ‘Dry'                - Inflow volumes that have 9 chances in 10 of being exceeded

Murray System (% of High-Reliability Water Share at Date Shown)

Goulburn System (% of High-Reliability Water Share at Date Shown)

A repeat of 2007/08 inflow conditions is expected to produce a Murray seasonal allocation of 30% of high‑reliability water shares and a 31% allocation in the Goulburn system.

Customers will receive newsletters describing the outlook, operations planning and other issues later this month, and are urged to watch for information in local media and on the G-MW website, http://www.g-mwater.com.au/.

Qualification of Rights

The Minister for Water has qualified rights to water to allow supplies for essential needs under the extreme conditions currently affecting northern Victorian water systems. Further details of the qualifications are available from G-MW's website, newsletters and advertisements in local media.