Groundwater Catchments (GC)

This layer provides the boundaries of the Groundwater Catchments of Victoria and is a product of the NWC funded Secure Allocations, Future Entitlement (SAFE) Project. The Groundwater Catchments (GC) have been developed to provide complete coverage of Victoria while considering the following:\n\n(1) Reflect aquifer systems and groundwater movement; and,\n\n(2) Align with physical (i.e. surface water) and administrative boundaries where appropriate.\n\nThe GCs are aligned within Victoria’s Groundwater Basins (GB). Boundaries that related directly or in-directly to the physical characteristics of groundwater resources included groundwater flow divides, surface water flow divides, topographic divides, and geological structural features that influence aquifer extent and groundwater flow direction.\n\nAdministrative boundaries directly linked to the management of groundwater resources include:\n\nThe Victorian State Boundary (Water Act (1989);\n\nWSPA: Water Supply Protection Area (formally declared under provisions of the Act);\n\nGMA: Groundwater Management Area (described and lodged as a plan with the Central Plan Office);\n\nRWC: Rural Water Corporation administration areas - Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water (GWMWater), Goulburn Murray Water (GMW), Lower Murray Water (LMW) and Southern Rural Water (SRW); and\n\nMDBA: Murray Darling Basin Authority (Federal Water Act (2007)).\n\nThe description of water resource management is often described in terms of surface water and groundwater. In reality, the two resources are connected; however there are differing degrees of interconnection depending on the groundwater system and location within the surface water catchment. In preparing the Groundwater Catchments (GC), surface water catchments were directly considered. The key surface water boundaries considered are:\n\nVictorian Sustainable Diversion Limits (SDL) Catchment boundaries;\nBureau of Meteorology (2011) Surface Water Basins (Australian Hydrological Geospatial Framework, product suite v2 2011);\nVictorian Surface Water Basin Catchment (Australia’s River Basin, 1997); and,\nGeoscience Australia (500 sqkm) National Nested Catchment.