You are here: ANRA home » Natural resource topics » Water » Overview » Victoria
This web site is no longer being updated
In this section you will find detailed information, including national overviews and state and regional level assessments, from the 2000-2002 National Land and Water Resources Audit theme assessments.
Water resources - Overview - Victoria
Basin & Surface Water Management Area: Tambo River
Introduction
The Tambo River Basin lies in the east of the State, and flows south from the Bowen Mountains in the Great Dividing Range to the coast, irnsdale. of the basin is 4,212 km2 (2% of the State) and the two major river systems, the Tambo and the Nicholson, are the eastern most rivers that flow into the Gippsland Lakes. The Tambo River flows southward through dissected mountainous terrain, undulating hills and then flat alluvial and coastal plains to Lake King. Major tributaries of the Tambo River include the Haunted Stream and the Timbarra River. The Nicholson River flows southwards from Mt Baldhead, parallel to the basin's western boundary, into Lake King. In the south-east portion of the basin, Boggy Creek flows into Lake Tyers.
The coastal summers are warmer and the winters milder than further north. Rainfall varies from north to south, from around 1,000 mm in the north, dropping to 763 mm at Bruthen and 734 mm at Lakes Entrance. A rain shadow exists over part of the Tambo River, with annual rainfall falling below 700 mm. Snowfalls during winter are not uncommon above 600 m, however it does not remain on the ground for long periods.
The mean annual flow of the basin is 329,000 ML, which represents 1.6 % of the total runoff generated in the State.
Cattle and sheep farming and grain production are the major forms of industry in the basin. Cattle and sheep grazing is predominant along the lower reaches of the Nicholson River and in the central and upper catchment of the Tambo. The cleared section between Bruthen and Lakes Entrance and the Tambo River flats produce vegetables, lucerne, maize and the pastures support dairy and beef cattle. Lakes Entrance is a popular tourist destination and also supports a large fishing industry.
The average average annual surface water use is 2,850 ML; 42% irrigation, 48% urban and industrial and the remaining 10 % rural use.
It should be noted that this estimate of water use does not take account of the volume of reclaimed or returned water.
Water is neither imported into or exported from the Tambo River Basin.
Vital Statistics:
| Area: | 4,212 Km2 |
|---|---|
| Total storage volume: | 640 |
| Total surface water use: | 2,850 ML/yr |
| Development category: | MEDIUM DEVELOPMENT |
| Mean annual run-off: | 329,000 ML/yr |
A four-class classification system was developed to provide a simple method to communicate the status of the use and allocation of Australia's water resources in relation to sustainable water management.
It is important to recognise that adequately quantifying a sustainable flow regime or sustainable yield and consequent operating rules is a complex matter. State, Territory and scientific agencies continue to develop and apply methods and measures for determining sustainable flow regimes and sustainable yields.
This categorisation provides a general guide only. Please refer to the State and Territory Overview and Technical reports for detail on the analysis methods used.
| Category | Development status | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | <30% | Low development | |
| 2 | 30 - 70% | Moderate development | |
| 3 | 70 - 100% | Highly developed | |
| 4 | 100% | Overdeveloped |
* Water use as a percentage of sustainable flow regime (surface water) and sustainable yield (groundwater)
PLEASE NOTE:
Sustainable Yield:
While Victoria has a variety of programs under-way aimed at identifying, improving and protecting environmental water requirements, the necessary investigations take considerable time and resources.
Given the short time frame of the Audit, it was necessary to make some broad assumptions, and use a variety of approaches, to derive estimates of the sustainable yield for surface water management areas (SWMAs) in Victoria. Consideration was given to environmental water requirements (known and likely), existing user rights, and related social and economic impacts. The reported allocations to the environment represent the water that can currently be maintained or made available in an attempt to meet environmental water requirements.
For surface water management areas in the southern part of Victoria where environmental values could potentially be threatened by further allocations, the sustainable yield was limited to the current allocation volume, pending the outcomes of further detailed investigations of environmental water requirements. In the case of the Tambo River Basin, the sustainable yield was limited to the current annual allocation volume, pending the outcome of the Gippsland Lakes environmental study.
The allocation volume was determined as the average diversion that would occur when the existing entitlements within the basin are fully taken up.
In the longer term, there may be further scope for freeing up additional water to improve environmental regimes by improving distribution and water use efficiencies (other options for improving environmental regimes will be considered as part of the Victorian River Health Strategy). In SWMAs where a significant portion of the available resource is committed to a downstream SWMA, there is also potential for trading of entitlements between the two SWMAs. This will result in a change to both the sustainable yield and the environmental allocation in both SWMAs. Trade out of a SWMA would decrease the sustainable yield of the SWMA and a trade of water rights into a SWMA would increase the sustainable yield. However, the sum of the sustainable yields for the two SWMAs would remain unchanged.
PLEASE NOTE:
Categorisation:
The categorisation of SWMAs in terms of the current level of water resource development has been determined with consideration given to the level of allocation and actual diversion of the resource relative to the assessed sustainable yield.
Five development categories have been defined:
Category 1: Low level of development: 0-30% Category 2: Medium level of development: 31-70% Category 3: High level of development: 71-99% Category 3*: Fully developed: 100% Category 4: Over allocated/used resource: >100%
The development category for the Tambo River Basin has been reported as fully developed (Category 3*) with respect to allocation and as a medium level of development (Category 2) with respect to diversion. The 3* rating for allocation has been assigned, pending the outcomes of the Gippsland Lakes environmental study.
How saline are the surface water resources in the Tambo River surface water management area?
Table: Surface water resource by salinity class.
| Total Volume, Divertible Yield (ML/Yr) | |
|---|---|
| Total volume (ML/yr), DIVERSION | 278,000 |
| <500 mg/l (ML/yr) | 278,000 |
| 500 mg/l (ML/yr) - 1500 mg/l (ML/yr) | no data |
| 1500 mg/l (ML/yr) - 5000 mg/l (ML/yr) | no data |
| 5000 mg/l (ML/yr) - 14000 mg/l (ML/yr) | no data |
| > 14000 mg/l (ML/yr) | no data |
Major water storages
Table: Major water storage areas:
| Storage name: | Capacity (ML) |
|---|---|
| Nicholson Dam | 640 |
| Total | 640 |
Further Information
- View the Victoria Water Resources Assessment 2000 Report
- View the Victoria Water Resources Assessment 2000 Technical Report
- Link to data available for download on the:
- Surface Water Management Areas
- Data from the 1985 Review of Australia's Water Resources and Water Use
- Link to the Map Maker to make a map using this information.
- For more information about water and other natural resource issues link to www.dse.vic.gov.au.
Key
Links to an another web site
Opens a pop-up window