Murray–Darling Basin

2.3 Aquifers – other lumped

Supporting information

The volumetric value for the line item at the end of 2009–10 is 1,019,004 ML (see the following table).

More details about the groundwater asset volumes and other data within the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB) region are available in the note 'Groundwater'.

Groundwater asset for groundwater management units selected from the MDB region for the National Water Account 2010
No.	Groundwater management unit (GMU)	State	Plan order	Permissible consumptive volume (ML/year)¹	Basic landowner right volume (ML)	Groundwater asset volume² (ML)	Aquifer type³
1	Lower Gwydir Alluvium	NSW	Water Sharing Plan for the Lower Gwydir Groundwater Source 2003	32,300	700	33,000	Combined
2	Lower Lachlan Alluvium	NSW	Water Sharing Plan for Lower Lachlan Groundwater Source	108,000	4,000	112,000	Combined
3	Upper Lachlan Alluvium	NSW	No plan 2003	–	–	–	–
4	Lower Macquarie Alluvium	NSW	Water Sharing Plan for Lower Macquarie Groundwater Sources 2003	69,298	1,730	71,028	Combined
5	Lower Murray Alluvium	NSW	Water Sharing Plan for Lower Murray Groundwater Source 2006	83,700	1,525	85,225	Combined
Lower Murrumbidgee – sum composed of GMUs 6 & 7		NSW		280,000	4,000	284,000
6	Lower Murrumbidgee Deep Groundwater source	NSW	Water Sharing Plan for Lower Murrumbidgee Groundwater Source 2003	270,000	1,000	271,000	Underlying
7	Lower Murrumbidgee Shallow Groundwater source	NSW	Water Sharing Plan for Lower Murrumbidgee Groundwater Source 2003	10,000	3,000	13,000	Water table
8	Mid Murrumbidgee Alluvium	NSW	No plan	–	–	–	–
9	Lower Namoi Alluvium	NSW	Water Sharing Plan for Upper and Lower Namoi Groundwater Sources 2003	86,000	3,304	89,304	Combined
10	Upper Namoi Alluvium	NSW	Water Sharing Plan for Upper and Lower Namoi Groundwater Sources 2003	122,100	2,832	124,932	Combined
Katunga-Campaspe – sum composed of GMUs 11–13		Vic		107,032	–	107,032
11	Campaspe Deep Lead Water Supply Protection Area	Vic	Campaspe Deep Lead Water Supply Protection Area Groundwater Management Plan 2006	47,252	–	47,252	Underlying
12	Katunga Water Supply Protection Area	Vic	Katunga Water Supply Protection Area Groundwater Management Area – order dated 03 July 2008	59,780	–	59,780	Underlying
13	Shepparton Irrigation Water Supply Protection Area	Vic	Shepparton Irrigation region Water Supply Protection Area Groundwater Management Plan dated July 1997	–	–	–	Water table
14	Mid Loddon Water Supply Protection Area	Vic	Mid Loddon Groundwater Management Area – Local Management Rules June 2009	37,200	–	37,200	Combined
Lower Murray–Darling Basin GMUs – sum composed of GMUs 15–27				74,683	600	75,283	-
15	Balrootan (Nhill) Groundwater Management Area	Vic	No plan or order	–	–	–	–
16	Goroke Groundwater Management Area	Vic	Goroke Groundwater Management Area – order dated 03 July 2008	2,200	–	2,200	Underlying
17	Kaniva TCSA Groundwater Management Area	Vic	Kaniva TCSA Groundwater Management Area – order dated 03 July 2008	1,100	–	1,100	Underlying
18	Murrayville Water Supply Protection Area	Vic	Murrayville Water Supply Protection Area – order dated 03 July 2008	10,883	–	10,883	Combined
19	Nhill Groundwater Management Area	Vic	Nhill Groundwater Management Area – order dated 03 July 2008	1,200	–	1,200	Underlying
20	Telopea Downs Water Supply Protection Area	Vic	No plan or order	–	–	–	–
21	Anga–Bremer Prescribed Wells Area	SA	Water Allocation Plan for the Angas–Bremer Prescribed Wells Area 2001	6,500	–	6,500	Combined
22	Coorong	SA	No plan	–	–	–	–
23	Ferries–McDonald	SA	No plan	–	–	–	–
24	Mallee Prescribed Wells Area	SA	Mallee Prescribed Wells Area Water Allocation Plan 2000	52,800	600	53,400	Water table
25	Murraylands	SA	No plan	–	–	–	–
26	Peake, Roby and Sherlock Prescribed Wells Area	SA	Water Allocation Plan for the Peake, Roby and Sherlock Prescribed Wells Area 2011	–	–	–	Combined
27	River Murray Prescribed Water Course	SA	Water Allocation Plan for the River Murray Prescribed Watercourse 2009	–	–	–	–
	Total Basin			1,000,313	18,691	1,019,004

– = no data available (either there was no groundwater management plan in force during the 2009–10 reporting period, or the plan did not specify a value)

1 NSW = long-term average extraction limit; SA = permissible annual volume

2 Applicable at the beginning and end of 2009–10

3 Water table, underlying or combined

Quantification approach

Data source

Data was sourced from jurisdictional groundwater plans.

Data provider

Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA).

Method

The extractable volume of groundwater has been estimated as the sum of the permissible consumptive volume and the basic landowner rights, as stated in the relevant groundwater plan, if there was one in place during the 2009–10 reporting period. If a plan commenced after 30 June 2010, it is excluded from the account. Where a plan was abolished after 30 June 2010, the value of the plan in effect for the 2009–10 year is included in the National Water Account 2010.

The basic landowner rights, which are not subject to entitlements, are not included in the permissible consumptive volume. The basic landowner rights have to be added to the permissible consumptive volume to get an estimate of what is legally extractable from the aquifers.

The volumes provided by New South Wales groundwater plans for supplementary water access licences are not included in the calculation of the extractable volume of groundwater. The reason is that those volumes, set to decrease each year until they disappear completely, are not considered by the New South Wales jurisdiction as ‘long-term extractable limits’ of groundwater, but rather constitute a temporary arrangement, giving time for the licensees to adapt the activities to the long-term extractable limits.

Uncertainty

Uncertainty information was not available.

Approximations, assumptions, caveats/limitations

The basic landowner rights were considered as those at the commencement of the groundwater plan.

National Water Account 2010