The Storage Manager for the Wimmera-Mallee system headworks has conducted an assessment of the risk of spill for the system headworks, as per the methodology defined in the Storage Management Rules. The result of this assessment has enabled the Storage Manager to declare a low risk of spill for the 2023-24 water year as of 3 July 2023. Despite this declaration, it remains possible that reservoirs may physically spill during 2023-24.
The latest seasonal allocations for January 2023 have been announced by the Storage Manager.
Inflow to reservoirs during December saw a further increase in the volume available for allocation. This has supported a 34% increase in allocation (to 100%) for the Commonwealth Environmental entitlement. Allocations to Wimmera-Mallee Pipeline Product entitlements, Glenelg River Compensation Flow, Recreation and Wetlands entitlements remain at 100%.
As all Wimmera-Glenelg water entitlements have now received full allocation, no further allocation announcements will be made for 2022-23 year. Any further resource improvements over the coming months will contribute to opening allocations for 2023-24 year.
The latest seasonal allocations for December 2022 have been announced by the Storage Manager.
Inflow to reservoirs during November was approximately 860% of average, with the total volume in storage having increasing by around 48,000 megalitres since the November water allocation assessment. This has supported a 41,700 ML increase to the system reserve volume, meaning the full 94,500 ML system reserve has now been secured. In addition, a 66% allocation to the Commonwealth Environmental entitlement has been possible this month. Allocations to Wimmera-Mallee Pipeline Product entitlements, Glenelg River Compensation Flow, Recreation and Wetlands entitlements remain at 100%.
The latest seasonal allocations for November 2022 have been announced by the Storage Manager.
Inflow to reservoirs during October was approximately 465% of average, with the total volume in storage having increasing by around 127,500 megalitres since the October water allocation assessment. This has enabled a substantial increase to allocations, with all entitlements, except the Commonwealth Environmental entitlement, achieving full allocation. Wimmera-Mallee Pipeline Product entitlements increased from 60% to 100% this month. The Glenelg River Compensation Flow has increased from 4% allocation to 100%. The Recreation and Wetlands entitlements have both increased from 2% allocation to 100%. No allocation has been possible yet to Commonwealth Environmental entitlement.
A revised system reserve rule came into effect in August 2022. A total of 52,800 megalitres has been allocated to the system reserve. Details of the new reserve rule are available from the Storage Management Rules page.
Considering current catchment conditions and higher inflows, the Storage Manager is currently publishing updated storage level information on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Please note that Monday and Friday updates are based on unverified telemetry data. The usual update on Wednesday will continue to be based on verified data from operator field reads.
Real time storage level telemetry data is publicly available for most of the headworks storages is available on the Victorian Government's Water Measurement Information System web page here. Please note that this data is also unverified and in some cases can be inaccurate to the actual level at the reservoir.
The latest seasonal allocations for October 2022 have been announced by the Storage Manager.
Inflow to reservoirs during September was approximately 121% of average, with the total volume in storage having increasing by around 54,000 megalitres since the September water allocation assessment. This has enabled a substantial increase to allocations, with Wimmera-Mallee Pipeline Product entitlements increasing from 19% to 60% this month. Glenelg River Compensation Flow has received a 4% allocation, with Recreation and Wetlands entitlements both receiving a 2% allocation. No allocation has been possible yet to Commonwealth Environmental entitlements.
A revised system reserve rule came into effect in August 2022. A total of 20,000 megalitres has been allocated to the system reserve. Details of the new reserve rule are available from the Storage Management Rules page.
The Wimmera-Glenelg Headworks Storage Manager began releasing 300 megalitres of water from Lake Wartook into the MacKenzie River this morning in anticipation of the reservoir spilling.
For more information, click the followling link: Lake Wartook Q&A
The latest seasonal allocations for September 2022 have been announced by the Storage Manager.
Inflow to reservoirs during August was approximately 66% of average, with the total volume in storage having increasing by around 42,500 megalitres since the August water allocation assessment. This has supported an increase in allocation to Wimmera-Mallee Pipeline Product entitlements from 2% to 19% this month. No allocation has been possible yet to Glenelg River Compensation Flow, Recreation, Wetlands or Commonwealth Environmental entitlements.
A revised system reserve rule came into effect in August 2022. A total of 17,130 has been allocated to the system reserve. Details of the new reserve rule are available from the Storage Management Rules page.
The latest seasonal allocations for August 2022 have been announced by the Storage Manager.
Inflow to reservoirs during July was approximately 13% of average, with reservoirs increasing by around 6,000 ML since the July water resource assessment. This has been sufficient for a 2% allocation to be made to Wimmera-Mallee Pipeline Product entitlements this month. No allocation has been possible yet to Glenelg River Compensation Flow, Recreation, Wetlands or Commonwealth Environmental entitlements.
A revised system reserve rule came into effect this month, with 2,200 megalitres now in reserve. The revised rule shares the available water between entitlements and the system reserve as soon as allocations commence. Details of the new reserve rule are available from the Storage Management Rules page.
The latest seasonal allocations for July 2022 have been announced by the Storage Manager. This is the first allocation announcement of the 2022-23 year.
Sufficient water is held in storage to secure all headworks system operating water requirements for the 2022-23 season. However, further inflow is required before any allocation can be made to entitlements. Operating water represents the volume which is projected to be lost through the normal operation of the headworks system. Evaporation from reservoirs represents the majority of system operating water requirements.
While no allocation has been possible to any entitlement at the time of the July 2022 water resource assessment, bulk entitlement holders collectively have access to approximately 109,000 megalitres of unused water allocation carried forward from 2021-22 year.