Protecting our rivers and aquifers

The action contributed to long-term changes to water planning and management to incorporate the water values of Traditional Owners and Victorian Aboriginals. The Guidelines for preparing regional strategies for healthy rivers and wetlands directed Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs) to engage with Traditional Owners and Aboriginal Victorians when updating regional river health strategies.

Traditional Owners and Aboriginal Victorians were also consulted during the development of the Victorian Waterway Management Strategy and regional waterway strategies and will continue to be involved in other planning activities (such as seasonal watering proposals).

Water for Victoria (WfV) strengthened the requirement to consider Traditional Owners’ values in water management and has an action (8.7) to ensure this is part of future SWSs.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved

Delivery period: September 2013 – ongoing

The systems in the Central Region that can receive environmental water are the Yarra, Tarago (and Bunyip), Barwon (lower Barwon Wetlands and upper Barwon), Maribyrnong, Moorabool, Werribee, Latrobe, Thomson and Macalister river systems. Since the Central SWS was released, FLOWS studies for the Latrobe River (2006) and estuary (2013) were completed.

A FLOWS update and environmental water management plan were completed for the Macalister River in 2016, and a shortfalls update is underway.

A FLOWS and shortfalls update is about to start for the Latrobe River, in collaboration with the Latrobe Valley Regional Rehabilitation Strategy regional water studies.

A FLOWS and shortfalls update for the Thomson River is scheduled to start later in 2018–19. Flow studies will continue to be updated to provide information for a future SWS. Updates are also underway for the upper Barwon, Yarrowee/Leigh and Maribyrnong rivers.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Partly achieved

Delivery period: Over several years – ongoing

The action improved transparency in the use of water for the environment. The Victorian Water Accounts have reported water set aside in the environmental water reserve since the 2006–07 edition, and reporting is planned to continue.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved

Delivery period: July 2007 – ongoing

The action helped protect river health. The Victorian Water Accounts list environmental water entitlements. New take and use licences may only be issued in accordance with sustainable diversion limits.

Permissible consumptive volumes (PCVs) have been set by Ministerial Order for each basin in the region. This action requires ongoing review to remain current and to ensure it continues to help protect river health.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved

Delivery period: July 2010 – ongoing

The action provided a mechanism to understand the impact of small-catchment dams and to incorporate it into future planning and management. A statewide policy on dams was included in the Northern Region SWS in 2009 and registration of dams in rural residential areas was introduced in 2011.

This policy lapsed in 2017. WfV Action 8.4 identifies the need to report on significant users of water.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved

Delivery period: March 2011

The action provided and will continue to provide ongoing opportunities to revise operating rules to benefit river health. Operating rules were reviewed when bulk entitlements were created or amended.

Bulk entitlements were amended during and after the Millennium Drought to increase management flexibility to minimise the impact of dry conditions on the environment. This included the Bulk Entitlement (Maribyrnong -Southern Rural Water) Conversion Amendment Order 2010 and the Bulk Entitlement (Werribee System Irrigation) Conversion Amendment Order 2011.

Other improvements included the more efficient use of environmental bulk entitlements including modifying passing flows from the Thomson Dam to enable ‘banking’ of water for use at other, more critical times.

The Victorian Environmental Water Holder (VEWH)’s process for preparing seasonal watering plans considers options for managing existing environmental water holdings under existing operating rules. Where there is some flexibility in an environmental entitlement about how passing flows are provided, this will be part of the seasonal watering plan.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved

Delivery period: Ongoing

The environmental water reserve has increased by 60.8 GL. Action 3.5 of Water for Victoria commits the government to investigate options to meet previous environmental water commitments to the Moorabool, Werribee and Maribyrnong rivers.

It also flags that any additional environmental water recovery will be part of a future SWS.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Partly achieved

Delivery period: Ongoing

The action piloted an approach to help with water management. The (then) Department of Sustainability and Environment and the West Gippsland CMA piloted this program in the Macalister Irrigation District in 2008–09. The pilot was completed and a review could be carried out to determine lessons learnt.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved

Delivery period: June 2009

The action contributed to further resourcing of stream frontage management. Between 2002–03 and 2015–16, state government funding contributed to over 10,000 km of riparian fencing and 36,000 ha of riparian land fenced off and works undertaken (such as revegetation and weed management).

Numerous audits and evaluations of riparian projects by CMAs found projects were generally well managed, technically sound and able to demonstrate the outputs achieved (such as fencing and revegetation).

To accelerate the implementation of riparian works, in 2015 the Victorian Government launched the Regional Riparian Action Plan, a five-year plan to accelerate onground riparian management works across regional Victoria to improve the health of riparian land along Victoria's regional rivers, estuaries and wetlands. It has also provided a further $40 million for riparian works from 2015–20 to implement the plan. Priorities were informed by regional waterway strategies.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved

Delivery period: 2015

The action led to the development of an approach to help manage water resources during drought. Water authorities and CMAs now develop dry inflow contingency plans, and the seasonal watering proposals CMAs and Melbourne Water submit to the VEWH each year address the impact of low inflows on the environment.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved

Delivery period: 2006 to 2007 – ongoing

The action identified approaches to consider climate change impacts, which are now incorporated into other management approaches. The potential impacts of climate change are now addressed at all levels of water planning as a result of legislative and policy initiatives including the Climate Change Act 2017 and Victoria's Climate Change Adaptation Plan 2017-2020.

The 2013 Victorian Waterway Management Strategy included updated policies to manage the state’s rivers, estuaries and wetlands in the context of climate change. These guided the next generation of regional waterway strategies. CMAs have also finalised climate change adaptation plans, to better integrate climate change planning into their regional natural resource management (including waterway management) activities.

Water for Victoria sets the long-term direction for managing water resources, including waterway health, in the face of climate change and a growing population. It will guide how the water sector adapts to and manages the impacts of climate change on the state's water resources in coming decades. The water sector will lead climate change adaptation actions resulting from Victoria’s Climate Change Adaptation Plan 2017 – 2020 and the review of the Climate Change Act 2010.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved

Delivery period: Ongoing

The intent of this action has effectively been achieved by incorporating environmental impacts of groundwater extraction into the ongoing groundwater management and licence assessment process. Specifically, Section 40 (1)d outlines that the Minister must have regard to any adverse effect that the allocation or use of water under the entitlement is likely to have on a waterway, drainage regime or the maintenance of the environmental water reserve in accordance with the environmental water reserve objective.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved

Delivery period: Date not available

PCVs for each groundwater management area were declared in the late 1990s and early 2000s. PCVs continue to be revised as part of the review of groundwater management plans and water supply protection area management plans. Groundwater in northern Victoria was capped by Commonwealth legislation under the Basin Plan 2012.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved

Delivery period: June 2009

The action improved transparency about groundwater resources including water recharged into aquifers as part of managed aquifer recharge schemes. Groundwater licensed volume and use are reported annually in the Victorian Water Accounts.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved

Delivery period: Ongoing

The action contributed to greater consideration of groundwater management, laying the groundwork for further reforms to groundwater management in the Western Region SWS. This addressed groundwater trading, developed an approach to managing groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) and considered the impacts of land use changes and extractive industries.

Western Region SWS outcomes were incorporated into the statewide groundwater policy in 2011.

Further actions on groundwater were incorporated into the Western Region and Gippsland Region SWSs to further this action.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved

Delivery period: 2011

The action contributed to greater consideration of groundwater management. This was further addressed in the Western Region SWS, which included policies for managed aquifer recharge. Water corporations in the region have run aquifer recharge programs (such as City West Water’s trial using treated wastewater).

For example, a groundwater resource assessment identified additional water that could be used in the Parwan Groundwater Management Area (GMA) and the Jan Juc GMA (Anglesea).

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved

Delivery period: Date not available

The action contributed to greater consideration of groundwater management and access to additional groundwater resources. The additional groundwater identified in the Parwan Groundwater Management Area (GMA) was made available through an auction. The additional groundwater in the Jan Juc GMA was incorporated into Victoria's first bulk entitlement for groundwater to supply Geelong. This was further addressed in the Western Region SWS. See action 2.15.

Action status (5-yearly assessment 2018): Achieved

Delivery period: Date not available