Murray-Darling Basin
1.1 Storages

 The volumetric value for the line item at the end of the 2010–11 year was 19,165,154 ML.

The line item represents the volume of water held in storages that are used to supply water for entitlements in regulated systems and for flood mitigation purposes. The volume reported for this line item includes the volume of dead storage.

Volumetric data for a number of small storages were not received at the time of compilation of this note, and are therefore not included in the following table.

A number of mid-river storages, locks, weirs and the like also support the delivery of water. These storages form part of the river channel and usually only provide very short-term supply. The volume for a number of these storages is reported in line item 1.3 Regulated river. Water may also be used from lakes and wetlands within the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB), as reported in line item 1.4 Lakes and wetlands.

Storage information is categorised according to MDB surface water resources plan (WRP) areas. Storage information on WRP area basis is summarised in the following table. Specific details of individual storages are included in the second table.

 

Summary of storage volumes in the MDB region in the 2010–11 year

Surface water resource plan area		State	Volume (ML) as at 30 June 2011
Code	Name
SW19	Warrego – Paroo – Nebine	Qld	–
SW18	Condamine–Balonne	Qld	219,992
SW17	Moonie	Qld	–
SW16	Qld Border Rivers	Qld	310,965
SW15	NSW Border Rivers	NSW	309,711
SW11	Barwon–Darling watercourse	NSW	–
SW12	NSW Intersecting Streams	NSW	–
SW14	Gwydir	NSW	689,173
SW13	Namoi	NSW	560,513
SW10	Macquarie–Castlereagh	NSW	1,242,970
Sub-total Northern Basin			3,333,324
SW9	Lachlan	NSW	1,299,461
SW8	Murrumbidgee NSW	NSW	2,481,479
SW7	NSW Murray and Lower Darling	NSW	5,275,563
SW3	Northern Victoria	Vic	3,918,152
SW2	Vic Murray	Vic	2,488,952
SW4	Wimmera–Mallee	Vic	166,971
SW6	Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges	SA	–
SW5	SA Murray	SA	–
SW1	ACT	ACT	201,252
Sub-total Southern Basin			15,831,830
Total for the region			19,165,154

– = Data not available

Note: Volumes shown against a WRP area are based on storages geographically located within that area. Volumes shown for NSW Murray and Lower Darling, and Victorian Murray also serve other WRP areas.

 

Details of individual storages in the MDB region in the 2010–11 year

Water resource plan area	Sustainable diversion limit area		State	Storage name	Data source1	Additional site information	Dead storage (ML)	Total capacity (ML)	Total storage volume on 30 June 2011
	Code	Name							(ML)	(%)
Condamine-Balonne	SS26	Condamine–Balonne	Qld	Beardmore (Lake Kajarabie)	Bureau	Balonne River	1,537	81,700	82,371	100.8
			Qld	Chinchilla Weir	Bureau	Condamine River	118	9,780	10,146	103.7
			Qld	Cooby Creek Reservoir	Bureau	Cooby Dam	1,464	21,166	21,052	99.5
			Qld	Lake Leslie	Bureau	Sandy Creek	2,123	106,250	104,953	98.8
			Qld	Neil Turner Weir	MDBA	Maranoa River near Mitchell	360	1,470	1,470	100.0
Qld Border Rivers	SS24	Qld Border Rivers	Qld	Lake Coolmunda	Bureau	Macintyre Brook	215	69,060	60,085	87.0
			Qld	Lake Glenlyon	Bureau	Pike Creek	1,770	252,655	250,880	99.3
NSW Border Rivers	SS23	NSW Border Rivers	NSW	Pindari Lake	Bureau	Severn River	80	312,000	309,711	99.3
Gwydir	SS22	Gwydir	NSW	Lake Copeton	Bureau	Gwydir River	18,487	1,361,395	689,173	50.6
Namoi	SS21	Namoi	NSW	Chaffey Reservoir	Bureau	Peel River	2,359	61,827	62,212	100.6
			NSW	Lake Keepit	Bureau	Namoi River	6,577	425,513	415,481	97.6
			NSW	Split Rock Reservoir	Bureau	Manilla River	3,156	397,397	82,820	20.8
Macquarie–Castlereagh	SS20	Macquarie–Castlereagh	NSW	Lake Burrendong	Bureau	Macquarie River	33,774	1,190,029	1,074,803	90.3
			NSW	Lake Windamere	Bureau	Cudgegong River	1,131	368,120	168,167	45.7
Northern Basin							73,151	4,658,362	3,333,324	71.6
Lachlan	SS16	Lachlan	NSW	Carcoar Lake	Bureau	Belubula River	214	36,131	27,403	75.8
			NSW	Lake Brewster	Bureau	Lachlan River	4,561	153,620	117,365	76.4
			NSW	Lake Cargelligo	Bureau	Lachlan River	6,370	36,533	37,608	102.9
			NSW	Lake Wyangala	Bureau	Lachlan River	725	1,217,761	1,117,085	91.7
Murrumbidgee NSW	SS15	Murrumbidgee  NSW	NSW	Blowering Reservoir	Bureau	Tumut River	23,992	1,633,852	1,578,588	96.6
			NSW	Lake Burrinjuck	Bureau	Murrumbidgee River	3,291	1,026,327	902,891	88.0
NSW Murray and Lower Darling	SS18	Lower Darling	NSW	Lake Cawndilla	Bureau	Darling River – forms part of Menindee Lakes	86,080	631,052	696,780	110.4
			NSW	Lake Menindee2	Bureau	Darling River – forms part of Menindee Lakes	60,860	629,488	717,709	114.0
			NSW	Lake Pamamaroo	Bureau	Darling River – forms part of Menindee Lakes	28,930	277,725	347,952	125.3
			NSW	Lake Victoria3	Bureau	River Murray	100,041	676,621	481,503	71.2
			NSW	Lake Wetherell	Bureau	Darling River – forms part of Menindee Lakes	522	193,178	193,178	100.0
	SS14	NSW Murray	NSW	Lake Hume4	Bureau	River Murray	1,789	3,038,182	2,838,441	93.4
Northern Victoria	SS4	Ovens	Vic	Lake Buffalo	Bureau	Buffalo River	3,791	23,340	13,821	59.2
			Vic	Lake William Hovell	Bureau	King River	900	13,730	13,825	100.7
	SS5	Broken	Vic	Lake Nillahcootie	Bureau	Broken River	750	40,403	40,676	100.7
	SS6	Goulburn	Vic	Greens Lake	Bureau	Supplements Waranga Western Channel	4,511	32,486	22,829	70.3
			Vic	Lake Eildon	Bureau	Goulburn River	84,011	3,334,160	2,912,237	87.3
			Vic	Waranga Basin	Bureau	Goulburn River	124,000	432,362	351,374	81.3
	SS7	Campaspe	Vic	Lake Eppalock	Bureau	Campaspe River	1,117	304,652	294,566	96.7
			Vic	Lauriston Reservoir	Bureau	Lauriston Reservoir on Coliban River	1	19,790	19,726	99.7
			Vic	Malmsbury Reservoir	Bureau	Malmsbury Reservoir on Coliban River	0	12,034	9,698	80.6
			Vic	Upper Coliban Reservoir	Bureau	Upper Coliban Reservoir	78	37,770	37,869	100.3
	SS8	Loddon	Vic	Cairn Curran Reservoir	Bureau	Loddon River	300	147,132	131,584	89.4
			Vic	Tullaroop Reservoir	Bureau	Tullaroop Creek	7,000	72,948	69,947	95.9
Vic Murray	SS2	Vic Murray	Vic	Lake Dartmouth4	Bureau	Mitta Mitta River	80,002	3,907,700	2,488,952	63.7
Wimmera–Mallee	SS9	Wimmera–Mallee	Vic	Lake Bellfield	Bureau	Fyans Creek	980	78,560	61,265	78.0
			Vic	Lake Fyans	Bureau	Off stream – Fyans Creek	1,010	18,460	13,409	72.6
			Vic	Lake Lonsdale	Bureau	Mount William Creek	0	65,480	48,138	73.5
			Vic	Lake Taylor	Bureau	Potter Creek	2,920	33,702	22,309	66.2
			Vic	Toolondo Reservoir	Bureau	Off stream –Mt Talbot Creek	0	92,431	0	0.0
			Vic	Wartook Reservoir	Bureau	MacKennzie River	2,000	29,300	21,850	74.6
ACT	SS1	ACT	ACT	Bendora Reservoir	Bureau	Cotter River	96	11,543	9,144	79.2
			ACT	Corin Reservoir	Bureau	Cotter River	110	70,897	67,792	95.6
			ACT	Cotter Reservoir	Bureau	Cotter River	9	3,856	3,248	84.2
			ACT	Googong Reservoir	Bureau	Queanbeyan River	1,674	121,084	121,068	100.0
Southern Basin							632,635	18,454,288	15,831,830	85.8
Whole MDB region							705,786	23,112,649	19,165,154	82.9

¹ Data source: Bureau = Bureau of Meteorology; MDBA = Murray–Darling Basin Authority

² The volume in Lake Menindee is available for Lower Darling, Victorian Murray and South Australian Murray sustainable diversion limit (SDL) areas

³ The volume in Lake Victoria is available for Victorian Murray and South Australian Murray SDL areas

⁴ The volume in Lake Hume and Lake Dartmouth is available for NSW Murray and Victorian Murray SDL areas

 

Water storages, Australian Water Information System (AWRIS) and Murray–Darling Basin Authority HYDRO database.

Bureau of Meteorology (the Bureau) and Murray–Darling Basin Authority.

The Bureau

Storage volume is measured at the start and end of the year by using gauged water level height(s) in metres Australian Height Datum (mAHD) for individual storages. The height measurement is converted to a volume using the storage-volume curve(s) of the storage.

Murray-Darling Basin Authority

Volumes have been provided to the Murray–Darling Basin Authority by jurisdictions as part of the water audit monitoring report data and from Murray–Darling Basin Authority water accounts, which are prepared monthly for MDB states.

The Bureau

Storage-volume curves represent specifically surveyed parts of the water storage, and may not reflect the storage-volume relationship across the entire storage.

Water storages are subject to sedimentation and other physical changes over time, which in turn affect the accuracy of the storage-volume curves.

Murray-Darling Basin Authority

Information provided in this line item may have been based on Cap valleys in the HYDRO database, which may not align perfectly with SDL areas.

The uncertainty estimate was not quantified.

This line item corresponds to line item 1.1 Storages – entitlement system, reported in the 2010 Account. In the 2011 Account, an error correction was made that caused the 2009–10 year value to be restated.

The changes and their respective values are detailed in the following table.

 

Restatement of comparative year information made for the line item 1.1 storages

2010 Account line items	Segment	Volume at 30 June 2010 reported in the 2010 Account (ML)	Difference due to prior period error correction (ML)	Volume at 30 June 2010 reported in the 2011 Account (ML)
1.1 Storages entitlement system	Northern Basin	786,899	1,464	788,363
	Southern Basin	6,559,203	99,683	6,658,886
	Whole region	7,346,102	101,147	7,447,249

 

Prior period error correction was due to:

• exclusion of dead storage volumes in volumes reported for Cooby Creek Reservoir and Lake Victoria for the 2010 Account

• minor corrections made to reported volumes for several other storages on 30 June 2010.