1.3.3.1 Description


The total number of economic water-dependent assets in the PAE of the Gippsland Basin bioregion is 270. There are 225 economic surface water assets. There are 45 economic groundwater assets. The assets comprise 96,314 elements including 65,309 surface water access elements and 31,005 groundwater elements with total share components (a specified share or volume of water that can be extracted within a specified water management area) of 96,397 and 80,101 ML/year, respectively. These data indicate a greater reliance on surface water than groundwater in the PAE. Table 13 shows the breakdown of water access entitlements (i.e. elements) for surface water and groundwater in the PAE of the Gippsland Basin bioregion.

Table 13 Breakdown of water access entitlements for surface water and groundwater in the preliminary assessment extent (PAE) of the Gippsland Basin bioregion


Water access entitlement type

Surface water

Groundwater

Basic water right (stock and domestic)

785

5,063

Water access right

2,537

6,075

Null (this class includes exploration and research, and monitoring bores)

291

19,867

Total share component (ML/y)

96,397

80,101

Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 1, Dataset 2)

NA=no data available

The Macalister Irrigation District was identified as a water-dependent economic asset at the Gippsland Basin asset workshop held in Traralgon, Victoria in December 2014. This information has been incorporated into the asset register and the areal coverage is depicted in Figure 4. The Landscape Priority Areas in Figure 4 are discussed in further detail in Section 1.3.4, and are defined as a sociocultural asset. These areas have significant natural values at most immediate risk from land use activities within the Gippsland Basin bioregion (WGCMA, 2012).

Figure 4

Figure 4 Irrigation district and Landscape Priority Areas that intersect or are contained by the Gippsland Basin preliminary assessment extent (PAE)

Data: Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries (Dataset 3), West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority (Dataset 4)

Regulated and unregulated river entitlements are grouped by river system and shown in Figure 5 along with the current surface water access entitlement distribution advised by Southern Rural Water at the Gippsland Basin asset workshop held in Traralgon, Victoria in December 2014. A large number of surface water access entitlements elements occur along the length of the Latrobe River and the Avon River (Figure 5).

Figure 5

Figure 5 Regulated and unregulated river entitlements areas and surface water access entitlement spatial distribution

Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 1, Dataset 2)

A groundwater management area is an area where groundwater has been intensively developed or has the potential to be developed in the future (DELWP 2014). This area, defined by a line on a map and by depth or aquifer, is used to account entitlement such that Permissible Consumptive Volumes (PCVs) defined under Victoria’s Water Act 1989 may be enforced. A water supply protection area (WSPA) is an area declared under Victoria’s Water Act 1989 to protect the groundwater or surface water resources through the development of a statutory management plan. These are shown in Figure 6 along with the spatial distribution of groundwater access entitlements in the Gippsland Basin PAE.

Figure 6

Figure 6 Groundwater management areas, water supply protection areas (WSPA) and the spatial distribution of groundwater access entitlement data in the Gippsland Basin preliminary assessment extent (PAE)

Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 2), Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries (Dataset 5), Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries (Dataset 6)

Last updated:
28 September 2018