The evidence base for Victorian water

The evidence base for Victorian water: availability and knowledge

• 2020–21 expenditure: $14,477,000
• 2021–22 expenditure: $15,327,000
• 2022–23 expenditure: $14,099,000
• 2023–24 expenditure: $14,400,000

Commencing the second phase of VicWaCI

The second phase of the VicWaCI commenced in July 2021, with research partners the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO. The research continues to improve our understanding of how the water cycle has changed over time and climate change's influence on water resources now and in the future.

Research findings and advice from the program have been applied in a diverse range of water resource planning processes, including long-term climate and streamflow trends incorporated as context into Annual Water Outlook reports produced each year by water corporations and DEECA.

A key objective of the research is to ensure it remains user-focused so that it helps facilitate and fast track application of the best available science, reflecting the current context for water management in Victoria.

The research program continues to build on the latest information as it becomes available, for example the latest findings from new global climate models. Research activities in the program have also have an expanded focus on extreme events and variability in climate and water resources, partly in response to the climate events experienced in recent years along with an increasing ability for the science to provide insights.

Engagement with the water sector

Engagement with the water sector during the first year of the program was focused on supporting the application of the Guidelines for Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Water Availability in Victoria to water corporations’ Urban Water Strategies and the Central and Gippsland Region Sustainable Water Strategy (CGRSWS). These Guidelines are used by Victorian water corporations to inform planning and decision making on short to very long-term scales.

With the research undertaken in the second phase of VicWaCI now complete, the findings are being synthesised and described in a report that will provide stakeholders with a thorough, scientifically robust, description of what is known about changing climate and hydrology across Victoria. A webinar series is also being used to share the findings with stakeholders, and the findings will also feed into an update to the Guidelines.

Legislative compliance obligations

The annual assessment of Victoria’s compliance with the cap on water diversions (schedule E of the MDB Agreement) and sustainable diversion limit (Section 71 of Water Act 2007 Cth) has been undertaken for 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23, resulting in Victoria successfully meeting legislative compliance obligations.

Sustainable diversion Limits and Trends in water use

Prepared communication materials on Sustainable Diversion Limits and Trends in Water Use in Northern Victoria.

National strategy for hydrological modelling

Worked closely with and provided expert advice to the National Water Reform Committee (NWRC) Independent Advisor for development of the National Hydrological Modelling Strategy (NHMS) and high-level implementation plan, and establishment of the NWRC Hydrological Modelling subcommittee to oversee the NHMS objectives.

Enhanced environmental water delivery project

Supported Enhanced environmental water delivery project, including advising on Victorian hydrological models, providing outputs from Victorian models and participating in meetings and workshops to progress the project.

Murray-Darling Basin

Technical contributions to and representation in interjurisdictional committees for advice on matters related to

• River Murray operations
• Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) water resource availability
• key water management activities
• MDB inter-state water sharing arrangements.

Source modelling platform software

Maintained and improved the Source modelling platform software by working closely with jurisdictions and eWater, and developed and improved daily Source models of Victorian systems.

Model development and enhancement

Models were developed in the latest Source software with a daily timestep for rivers and water supply systems in the Ovens, Werribee, Maribyrnong, Tarago, Barwon and Moorabool basins. Using up-to-date data and methods, the models were developed in consultation with the water sector, to ensure they meet the needs of water corporations and environmental water managers.

Independent reviews were completed for the Wimmera, Glenelg, Thomson Macalister, Werribee and Maribyrnong models to confirm these new models perform as expected and are fit-for-purpose for complex water-management decision making.
Models were enhanced for the Goulburn, Broken, Coliban, Campaspe, Loddon, Thomson Macalister, Wimmera and Glenelg basins to incorporate latest data and methods to ensure decision making is based on latest knowledge.

Community of practice

Led a community of practice for hydrological modelling in Victoria and regular communication and consultation with Victorian stakeholders through the Victorian Hydrological Modelling Group, to deliver improved hydrological modelling capabilities.

Model Management System (MMS)

Significant progress in development of Model Management System (MMS), including:

• completion of Model Catalogue to allow modellers to publish, search and filter based on metadata and request access to models
• Department Architecture Review Board endorsement of initial concept design for proposed MMS
• completion of Information Security Assessment, System Security Plan and Privacy Impact Assessment for model datastores
• configuration and maintenance of model datastores for more than 20 Source models and 2 REALM models

Development of forecast Source models

Development of forecast Source models, namely implementation of forecast Source model as a sub model within the Wimmera-Glenelg Source planning model and development of a forecasting version of the Ovens Source model.

Automation of inputs for Source models

Automation task to derive model inputs for the Wimmera Glenelg and Goulburn, Broken, Campaspe, Coliban and Loddon models delivering significant efficiencies and to better support model applications.

Model applications to support water management

Climate change modelling using a consistent approach for the assessment of future water availability in Northern Victorian systems to support Urban Water Strategies being developed by water corporations and to inform stakeholder discussions to understand the various relaxed constraints along the Goulburn River.

Technical evidence base to support the development of the CGRSWS

Technical assessments and analyses were undertaken to inform the evidence base for policy directions and action in the CGRSWS, including to extend and refine water availability information, to revise Melbourne Water diversion limit compliance method for ensuring sustainable management of water resources in the system over the long term, and preparation of the Technical guide to figures (Oct 2021) to support the CGRSWS Discussion Draft: Read the Technical Guide to Figures in Central and Gippsland Region Sustainable Water Strategy.

Long-Term Water Resource Assessments

Delivered the first legislative LTWRA for southern Victoria in March 2020 – involving development of the methodology, undertaking technical assessments, engaging with water sector, stakeholders and the community on draft findings prior to the Minister for Water releasing the final report.

Worked with Waterway Programs Branch and the Environment Protection Authority to improve future waterway health monitoring programs to meet the data needs for future Long-Term Water Resource Assessments.

The methodology for the Long-Term Water Resource Assessment for northern Victoria, currently planned to commence in 2025, is being developed by building upon the learning from these experiences.

Working with the community and stakeholders

Supported community and stakeholder information and engagement sessions and webinars for the CCGRSWS and in response to public submissions related to the LTWRA response process and water availability across the Central and Gippsland Region.

Addressing the impacts of mining and extractive industries

This initiative also supports progressive reviews and advice on mine rehabilitation applications, including the development of high-level guidance on how water from the Latrobe River system may be allocated and accessed as part of Latrobe Valley mine rehabilitation. This is part of broader work to ensure sustainable water management is considered in other sector’s activities, and throughout the energy transition in Victoria.

In collaboration with Resources Victoria, contributions were made to support the release of the 2023 Latrobe Valley Regional Rehabilitation Strategy Amendment (LVRRS). This amendment was supported by 2 key public reports designed to transparently provide the evidence base that underpins the LVRRS and to supports its implementation:

• Explanatory note: guidance on the type of access arrangements that could apply to surface water from the Latrobe River system for the purpose of mine rehabilitation - link to download
• Independent technical assessment: Type of conditions that could apply to water access for Latrobe Valley mine rehabilitation and associated risks and benefits – link to download

Groundwater sustainable yield project

Groundwater sustainable yields have been assessed for all systems in the state. Independent reviewers will be reviewing the reports and the findings. Policy responses will be developed through Groundwater Management 2030.

Sustainable management of groundwater resources

Provision of expert analysis, advice and input into policy development and licensing decisions for the sustainable management of groundwater resources, including:

• Groundwater Management 2030
• the CGRSWS
• the Hazelwood mine rehabilitation project Environmental Effects Statement, the Alcoa mine rehabilitation and Barwon Water’s 5 year technical review of groundwater sustainability under the Anglesea bulk entitlement.

State observation bores works

Refurbishment of 4 priority bores and construction of 20 new bores has been completed 18 months ahead of schedule and below budget. This enabled works to be expanded to include additional 38 high priority sites/bores.

Statutory requirements

The Groundwater (Border Agreement) Act 1985 (the Agreement) requires Annual Reports to be prepared and tabled in parliament. The 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 Annual Reports have been tabled, while the 2023-24 Annual Report is still in preparation by the Review Committee.

The Agreement also requires reviews of groundwater resources in the Designated Area every 5 years, and the Province 2 review was completed in 2022–23 and Province 1 in 2023.

Reporting of annual groundwater use, trade and compliance with section 71 requirements in the Murray Darling Basin Plan consistent with the Water Act 2007 Cwth requirements, and Victorian Water Resource Plans, was completed.

Implemented the Commonwealth’s Automatic Mutual Recognition legislation in respect to Driller’s Licensing in Victoria.

Updated salinity maps to support the Environment Protection Act, Environmental Reference Standards groundwater segments.

Regular monitoring and maintenance

• Regular monitoring and maintenance at 950 surface water sites
• Regular monitoring and maintenance at 1400 groundwater sites
• Regular water quality monitoring and/or laboratory analysis for 459 sites
• All monitoring data collected was published on the Water Measurement Information System (WMIS)
• Coordination and management of the Regional Water Monitoring Partnership

Redesign of the Water Measurement Information System website

• The redesign of the WMIS was based on a robust user needs analysis. This analysis recommended a wide range of improvements to fully meet user expectations and needs. Based on this work, WMIS was redeveloped and designed with vastly improved visualisation and functions.
• The upgraded WMIS website was made available through the existing online portal: data.water.vic.gov.au. WMIS publishes consistent statewide water quality information from the RWMP and has improved functionality like advanced search, data downloads and filtering capability with a GIS interface. Future enhancements planned for WMIS will further improve functionality and usability of the platform for end users.

Water monitoring contract renewal

• New 5-year water quality laboratory analysis contract approved and signed.
• New 5-year Groundwater Monitoring contract approved and signed.
• New 6-year Surface Water Monitoring contract approved and signed.

Water monitoring upgrades

• 2,195 repairs and or equipment updates at surface water monitoring sites.
• 1,015 sites upgraded from 3G to 4G in preparation for the 3G network being turned off in 2024.
• Upgrade of RWMP support systems for surface water, water quality and groundwater contracts to meet partner requirements to allow improved management of non-routine monitoring and build functionality to track expected vs actual gauging expenditure.

Water quality and impacts from bushfires

Published the 5 yearly "Victorian Water Quality Analysis” as required under section 22 of the Water Act 1989. The analysis addressed the key questions of how water quality varies across Victoria, and how long-term climate variability impacts water quality. The work provides an improved understanding of how bushfires affect water quality, how blue-green algal blooms are changing and understanding low dissolved oxygen events.

Victorian Water Accounts

2020–21 Victorian Water Accounts (VWA) were released by June 2022, with more online access to data and content, additional content moved online for groundwater reporting as well as new map based data visualisations.

The project to replace VWA written reports with a comprehensive digital version of the report commenced in 2022, with the new website launched in early 2024.

The 2021-21 VWA has been released in the new digital format, with the 2022-23 VWA due for release during September 2024.

Water resource reporting

Internal and public-facing water resource reporting is updated weekly, with a focus on storage levels, rainfall, water allocations and restrictions.

Water snapshot improvements

Improvements have been made to the Current Water Snapshot to provide clearer and more detailed access to resource condition information, including easy access to past data on storages, restrictions and trends.

Science of water modelling

The project created social media content to increase public engagement with Victorian water data and provide insights into how Victoria manages surface and groundwater, now and into the future. This included developing and releasing a video animation on the science of water modelling: from map to tap, see Surface water modelling.

Water education portal

Working closely with the Geography Teachers Association of Victoria on the development of a Water Education Portal, which will offer an interactive web space for students and teachers to learn about key areas of water management while supporting the use and delivery of the student and teacher lesson plans developed in year one of EC5.

Compliance – Visualising our Communications project

Supported the delivery of 2 phases of the Visualising our Communications project. This project delivered key marketing provisions to communicate improved non-urban water compliance information and education to support water users better to remain compliant with their licences and entitlements. It additionally provided photography, video and interview content for use in communications across the Water and Catchments Group as well as our water corporation delivery partners. This has allowed for more engaging and modern communications to members of the public

Enhanced communications to water market participants

The project provided proactive, clear and timely information to water market participants, ensuring participants could easily understand and navigate changes to Victorian trading arrangements introduced during the EC5 period, particularly around inter-zone trade opening events. This ensured that Victoria’s work with New South Wales to improve traders’ experience in accessing trade through the Barmah Choke on the River Murray was well-understood and accepted by water market participants.