Picture: Lake Fyans

Murrayville Groundwater Management Area

The Murrayville Groundwater Management Area (GMA) occupies 1,916 square kms centred on the town of Murrayville, between the Murray Sunset National Park and the Big Desert.

The dominant land use within the GMA is dryland agriculture, however, landholders take advantage of the good quality groundwater and suitable soils to cultivate irrigated crops such as potatoes, cereals and olives.

The area is essentially dependent on groundwater for urban and agricultural water supply, the main resource being the Tertiary Limestone Aquifer. This aquifer - or underground lake - is the primary supply for stock, irrigation and town supplies across the area.

 

Adobe PDF file icon 24x24View a map of the Murrayville GMA (1.4MB)

Adobe PDF file icon 24x24Annual Change in Groundwater Levels Graphs

Adobe PDF file icon 24x24New Groundwater Management Plan for Murrayville (389kB, 3 pages)

 

Management Strategy

The Murrayville Local Management Plan (Groundwater) 2017 provides a management strategy for the Tertiary Limestone Aquifer (the Murray Group Limestone). The plan ensures the Aquifer is protected and used so that the community can rely on it for years to come. There's also a focus on educating the community on the importance of good water resource management.

Adobe PDF file icon 24x24Murrayville Local Management Plan (Groundwater) 2017 (3.46MB, 42 pages)

 

Trading rules

The Murrayville GMA is managed by the rules according to the Murrayville Local Management Plan (Groundwater) 2017.

  • The Murrayville GMA is divided into six water management zones.
  • Each zone has set upper allocation limits.
  • A transfer of water entitlements (TWE) can be either temporary or permanent.

Restrictions on issuing groundwater licences and TWEs:

  • Approval depends on an assessment confirming that a TWE or groundwater licence won't affect existing groundwater users or the environment.
  • GWMWater won't grant a groundwater licence if it exceeds:

a) the Upper Limit of Allocation for the zone;

b) the Permissible Consumptive Volume (PCV) for the whole protection area.

 

Border Groundwaters Agreement

All groundwater resources along the Victorian-South Australian border are also subject to the Border Groundwaters Agreement. This agreement takes precedence over local water licensing authority policies (such as GWMWater's).

Find out more about the Border Groundwaters Agreement (external webpage).

 

Annual report

Check out our current annual report which contains information on usage, levels and health of the Murrayville GMA.

 

Further information...

About groundwater

Groundwater is an essential resource for our community, especially in the western parts of the region.

 

Apply for a groundwater bore

If you're planning to construct or alter a groundwater bore, you need to apply for a licence before you can start works.

 

Apply for a 'take and use' groundwater licence

To use groundwater for irrigation or other commercial purposes, you must have a ‘take and use’ licence.

 

Customer committees

Annual stakeholder meetings are held to provide an update on groundwater management in the Murrayville GMA. These meetings also provide a forum for consultation with stakeholders.