Small increases and stability in irrigation system determinations

By Rodney Woods

Jan 2, 2020

The Goulburn, Loddon and Campaspe systems have increased their water allocations, while the Murray, Broken and Bullarook systems remain unchanged in the latest seasonal determination update.

Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content

The Goulburn and Loddon systems increased from 64 per cent high-reliability water shares to 66 per cent HRWS, and the Campaspe system moved from 63 per cent HRWS to 65 per cent HRWS.

The Murray system remains unchanged on 56 per cent of HRWS and the Broken system remains on zero per cent HRWS.

The Bullarook system also stays the same — on 100 per cent HRWS and 100 per cent low-reliability water shares.

Northern Victoria resource manager Mark Bailey said a range of factors influenced the small improvements in water availability.

“Flows into the Goulburn system storages were slightly higher than forecast and river losses were lower than estimated in the Campaspe system,” Dr Bailey said.

“Both of these factors contributed to the increased seasonal determinations announced today (January 2) for those two systems.

“The volume available to Victoria in the Murray system has not changed in the past fortnight.”

The latest Bureau of Meteorology seasonal outlooks do not favour wetter or drier conditions across northern Victoria from January to March.

Dr Bailey advised water users to consider available weather and climate information in conjunction with the seasonal determination outlooks when planning their water needs in 2019-20.

The next 2019-20 seasonal determination announcement will be on Wednesday, January 15.

By Rodney Woods

Sports journalist