Irrigation Allocations and Restrictions

In the East Gippsland region, restrictions on irrigation diversions exist, as specified by the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE).

Throughout 1998/99, there was no regulated usage of irrigation or other water in the East Gippsland region of Victoria. There was, however, approximately 23 500 ML of non-regulated water used, which was authorised for irrigation, stock, domestic and other uses throughout the period. Almost all of the private diversions from waterways were used for irrigation and the majority of diversions were from the Mitchell, Snowy and Tambo River Basins.

Below are the statistics for irrigation water usage for season 1998/99 in the Gippsland region. This provides only a general overview of total allotments and usage in East Gippsland due to the fact that statistics for East and West Gippsland regions are not reported separately due to the fact that Southern Rural Water has jurisdiction over both regions.

Southern Rural Water Irrigation Water Usage for Season 1998/99 in the Gippsland region:

			Diversions from rivers, streams, lakes & main channels		Total usage ML
Area/ district	Total water rights allotted to district and diversion licenses ML	Gross supply at offtakes* ML	Usage under entitlement/ domestic & stock allowance ML	Sales usage ML
Gippsland Diverters	92,028.4	0	45,177.2	7,119.3	52,296.5

Source: Southern Rural Water Authority (1999)
*Excluding volumes passed to other areas/districts.

Southern Rural Water’s private diversions from waterways during 1998/99 in the East Gippsland region were dominated by irrigation usage from the Mitchell River Basin (with over 14 500 ML diverted). Diversions from the Snowy and Tambo River Basins combine to a total of just over 7 500 ML for 1998/99, most of which was for irrigation and about 260 ML for stock and domestic uses. Diversions from the Mitchell River for the 1999/00 season is 7 011 ML delivered as Licensed volume and 1 336 ML as sales water (Ken Bates, pers. comm.).

Southern Rural Water Private Diversions from Waterways, 1998/99 in the East Gippsland Region

	Unregulated
	Irrigation			Stock & Domestic		Other		Total
Drainage Basin	Licence (No.)	Authorised Volume (ML)	Authorised Area (ha)	Licence (No.)	Authorised Volume (ML)	Licence (No.)	Authorised Volume (ML)	Authorised Volume (ML)
Bemm	12	715	135.6	7	22	5	8.8	745.8
Mitchell	189	14,533.6	2,439.4	98	244.3	30	143.8	14,921.7
Snowy	45	3,729.5	642.5	22	57.2	7	33	3,819.7
Tambo	68	3,696.45	613	97	261.8	11	64.3	4,022.55
Total	314	22,674.6	3,830.5	224	585.3	53	249.9	23,509.75

East Gippsland’s urban water consumption increased from 4 945 ML in 1996/97 to 5 221 ML in 1997/98. However, it declined significantly (to 4 321 ML) during 1998/99. The majority of diversions originated from the Mitchell River (2 117 ML in 1998/99), followed by the Nicholson River (1 100 ML) and Rocky River/Brodribb River (587 ML) (East Gippsland Region Water Authority, 1999).

Southern Rural Water Authority (1999)

References

Allan, J. and Lovett, S. (1996). Impediments to Managing Environmental Water Provisions. Bureau of Resource Sciences, Canberra.

Ken Bates (pers. comm.) Operations Supervisor, Southern Rural Water.

Bennett, P.A. (1992). Surface water management in the Campaspe River basin: background information. Department of Water Resources, Melbourne.

East Gippsland Region Water Authority (1999). Annual Report 1998/99. Bairnsdale, Victoria.

Southern Rural Water Authority (1999). Annual Report 1998/99. Maffra, Victoria.

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