Water for the Environment

How do we make sure there is enough water for the environment?

Let's find out Scoll down to find out more

Many of Victoria’s rivers and wetlands have been modified as the population has grown to provide water important for towns, industry and food production.

In some rivers, up to half of the water that would have naturally flowed in them is removed each year for urban consumption, irrigation and industry.

As a result, these waterways are not able to function as they would naturally. This means we need to manage flows in rivers and to wetlands.

Water is specifically set aside for the environment in Victoria’s water management framework in 3 ways – water entitlements , obligations on consumptive use entitlements and above cap water.

How do we manage this?

The volume of total managed environmental water available in 2016–17 was 1,718 GL, which was less than the year before.

The volume of total managed environmental water available in 2017–18 was 2,027 GL, which was more than the year before.

Of this total available, 919 GL of environmental water was delivered during the year to 88 priority river reaches and 83 wetlands in Victoria and 691 GL was delivered via the Murray River to the South Australian border.

2017-18 was the Victorian Environmental Water Holder's (VEWH) seventh year managing water for the environment in Victoria. In 2017–18, 92% of identified potential watering actions were fully or partially achieved through a combination of naturally wet conditions and managed environmental flows. Despite the climate being dry to very dry the total proportion of actions achieved in 2017–18 was the second highest since the VEWH’s establishment in 2011.

Visit the VEWH website

To view the full 2017-2018 Victorian Water Accounts click the link below.

Victorian Water Accounts