Murray-Darling Basin
2.5 Other groundwater assets

Supporting Information

The volumetric value for the line item for the 2010–11 year was 1,327,718 ML for the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB) region. The line item represents sustainable diversion limits that include long term estimates of volumes for extraction, basic land holder rights or unlicensed stock and domestic rights (where these are not included in the long term extraction estimates in the water resource plan) and for New South Wales the volume of supplementary access licence that was available for use in the 2010–11 year.

Following two tables provide a summary and a breakdown of volumetric details of the line item.  More details about the groundwater asset volumes and other data within the region are available in the Groundwater note.

 

Summary of groundwater assets in the MDB region in the 2010–11 year
Groundwater resource plan area State Groundwater Asset Volume1  (ML)

 Code

Name
GW23 Warrego – Paroo – Nebine Qld –
GW22 Condamine–Balonne Qld –
GW21 Moonie Qld –
GW20 Qld Border Rivers Qld –
GW19 NSW Border Rivers Alluvium NSW –
GW18 New England Fractured Rock and Northern Basalts NSW –
GW17 Eastern Porous Rock NSW –
GW16 Gwydir Alluvium NSW 43,139
GW15 Namoi Alluvium NSW 325,561
GW14 NSW Alluvium above GAB NSW –
GW13 NSW Sediments above GAB NSW –
GW12 Macquarie–Castlereagh Alluvium NSW 72,223
GW11 Lachlan and South Western Fractured Rock NSW –
GW07 Darling Alluvium  NSW –
Sub-total Northern Basin 440,923
GW11 Lachlan and South Western Fractured Rock NSW –
GW07 Darling Alluvium  NSW –
GW10 Lachlan Alluvium NSW 126,876
GW9 Murrumbidgee Alluvium NSW 304,598
GW8 Murray Alluvium NSW 133,137
GW7 Darling Alluvium  NSW –
GW6 Western Porous Rock NSW –
GW2 Goulburn–Murray Vic 231,024
GW3 Wimmera–Mallee (groundwater) Vic 15,383
GW5 Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges SA 11,156
GW4 SA Murray SA 64,621
GW1 ACT (groundwater) ACT –
Sub-total Southern Basin 886,795
Total for the region 1,327,718

– = Data not available

1 Water table, underlying or combined aquifers

 

Details of groundwater assets in the MDB region in the 2010–11 year
Groundwater resource plan area

Groundwater sustainable diversion limit area  

Groundwater plan 

 State 

 Groundwater asset volume (ML) 

Code

Name
Gwydir Alluvium GS29 Lower Gwydir Alluvium Water Sharing Plan for the Lower Gwydir Groundwater Source 2003 NSW 43,139
Namoi Alluvium GS34 Lower Namoi Alluvium Water Sharing Plan for Upper and Lower Namoi Groundwater Sources 2003 NSW 99,741
GS45 Peel Valley Alluvium Water Sharing Plan for Peel Valley Regulated, Unregulated, Alluvium and Fractured Rock NSW 80,562
GS51 Upper Namoi Alluvium Water Sharing Plan for Upper and Lower Namoi Groundwater Sources 2003 NSW 145,258
Macquarie–Castlereagh Alluvium GS31 Lower Macquarie Alluvium Water Sharing Plan for Lower Macquarie Groundwater Sources 2003 NSW 72,223
Lachlan Alluvium GS30 Lower Lachlan Alluvium Water Sharing Plan for Lower Lachlan Groundwater Source 2003 NSW 126,876
Murrumbidgee Alluvium GS33 Lower Murrumbidgee Alluvium (deep: Calivil Formation and Renmark Group) Water Sharing Plan for Lower Murrumbidgee Groundwater Source 2003 NSW 291,598
GS33 Lower Murrumbidgee Alluvium (shallow: Shepparton Formation) Water Sharing Plan for Lower Murrumbidgee Groundwater Source 2003 NSW 13,000
Murray Alluvium GS32 Lower Murray Alluvium (deep: Renmark Group and Calivil Formation) Water Sharing Plan for Lower Murray Groundwater Source NSW 133,137
 Sub-total New South Wales 1,005,534
Goulburn–Murray GS08 Goulburn–Murray Alexandra Groundwater Management Area Vic 1,937
GS08 Goulburn–Murray Barnawatha Groundwater Management Area Vic 2,100
GS08 Goulburn–Murray Katunga Water Supply Protection Area Vic 59,780
GS08 Goulburn–Murray Kinglake Groundwater Management Area Vic 2,015
GS08 Goulburn–Murray Loddon Highlands Water Supply Protection Area Vic 20,521
GS08 Goulburn–Murray Lower Campaspe Valley Water Supply Protection Area Vic 56,381
GS08 Goulburn–Murray Lower Ovens Groundwater Management Area Vic 25,200
GS08 Goulburn–Murray Mid Goulburn Groundwater Management Area Vic 14,900
GS08 Goulburn–Murray Mid Loddon Groundwater Management Area Vic 37,200
GS08 Goulburn–Murray Mullindolingong Groundwater Management Area Vic 6,980
GS08 Goulburn–Murray Upper Ovens River Water Supply Protection Area Vic 4,010
Wimmera–Mallee (groundwater) GS09 Wimmera–Mallee Goroke Groundwater Management Area Vic 2,200
GS09 Wimmera–Mallee Kaniva TCSA Groundwater Management Area Vic 1,100
GS09 Wimmera–Mallee Murrayville Water Supply Protection Area Vic 10,883
GS09 Wimmera–Mallee Nhill Groundwater Management Area Vic 1,200
 Sub-total Victoria 246,407
Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges GS01 Angas Bremer (Quaternary Sediments and Murray Group Limestone) Angas-Bremer Prescribed Wells Area SA 6,500
GS04 Marne Saunders (Fractured Rock, Murray Group Limestone and Renmark Group) Marne Saunders Prescribed Water Resources Area SA 4,656
SA Murray GS03 Mallee (Pliocene Sands, Murray Group Limestone and Renmark Group) Noora Prescribed Wells area SA 5,138
GS03 Mallee (Pliocene Sands, Murray Group Limestone and Renmark Group) Mallee Prescribed Wells Area Water Allocation Plan 2000 SA 53,500
GS05 Peake – Roby – Sherlock (unconfined and confined) Peake, Roby and Sherlock Prescribed Wells Area SA 5,983
 Sub-total South Australia 75,777
Total 1,327,718

 

Sustainable diversion limit (SDL) areas other than included in the above tables do exist and may be relevant to the line item, however, relevant information was not available for the 2011 Account. For example, SDL areas for which groundwater plans are not available (i.e. the annual extraction limit has not been set by a water resource plan) are not included for the line item.

No information on groundwater asset volumes was available for Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory areas within the MDB region.

More information on Basic rights within the MDB region is included in line item 18.7 Extraction: other statutory rights.

Quantification Approach

Data Source

Data was sourced from jurisdictional groundwater plans.

Provided by

Murray–Darling Basin Authority.

Method

The extractable volume of groundwater has been estimated as the sum of the following attributes as stated in the relevant groundwater plan, if there was such plan in place during the 2010–11 year:

  • long term estimates of volumes for extraction
  • basic land holder rights or unlicensed stock and domestic rights (where these are not included in the long term extraction estimates in the water resource plan)
  • for New South Wales the volume of supplementary access licence that was available for use in the 2010–11 year.

If a plan commenced after 30 June 2011, it was excluded from the account. Where a plan was abolished after 30 June 2010, the value of the plan in effect for the 2010–11 year was included in the 2011 Account.

Basic landowner rights are added to the long term annual extraction limits for those plans that do not include this extractable volume in the plan extraction limit to get an estimate of what is legally extractable from the aquifers. In addition, for New South Wales the volume of supplementary access licences for the 2010–11 year was included to better reflect the total volume of water that can be extracted from the aquifer for the 2010–11 year.

Assumptions, Limitations, Caveats and Approximations

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

Uncertainty Information

The uncertainty estimate was not quantified.

Comparative year

This line item corresponds to line item 2.3 Aquifers – other lumped, reported in the 2010 Account. In the 2011 Account, the following changes were made that caused the 2009–10 year value to be restated:

  •  An error correction was made in the values reported in the 2010 Account.
  • The scope of the line item was changed.

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

 

Restatement of comparative year information made for the line item 2.5 Other groundwater assets
2010 Account line items

Segment

Volume at 30 June 2010 reported in the 2010 Account (ML)

Difference due to prior period error correction and scope change (ML)

Volume at 30 June 2010 reported in the 2011 Account (ML)
Line item 2.3 Aquifers – other lumped Northern Basin 318,264 50,477 368,741
Southern Basin 700,740 127,085 827,825
Whole region 1,019,004 177,562 1,196,566

 

Scope change was due to the following reason:

  • Upward flow volumes from the Great Artesian Basin in the Lower Namoi Alluvium was available for the 2010 Account (line item 15.1.3 Other lumped groundwater inflow from outside region) but not for the 2011 Account. Therefore, when calculating the restated value for the comparative year, the volume reported for the 2010 Account was reduced to reflect the scope change.
  • NSW supplementary access licences were not included in the 2010 Account. While these volumes are set to decrease each year until they disappear completely, they represent a temporary arrangement, giving time for the licensees to adapt the activities to the long-term extractable limits. Because these supplementary access licences were available for extraction in the 2009–10 year they have been restated for the asset volume.

Prior period error correction was due to the following reason:

  • For the 2010 Account, the volume of long term average annual extraction for Lower Macquarie groundwater sources in New South Wales was overstated by 5 ML.
  • In Victoria, the Spring Hill Water Supply Protection Area (5,062 ML), Upper Loddon Water Supply Area (13,648 ML) and Southern Campaspe Plains Groundwater Management Area (8,850 ML) permissible consumptive volumes were not included in the 2010 Account. Orders were gazetted in July and August 2010 that revoked these areas; however, they were applicable as at 30 June 2010.