Sustainable Management of Victoria's Groundwater Resources
Overview
This audit examines whether the use of groundwater resources is sustainable. Specifically, it examines whether water planners and managers use relevant and reliable information to manage the supply, and license the use of groundwater. It also assesses the effectiveness of licence monitoring and enforcement activities.
The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and water corporations do not know whether groundwater use is sustainable. While a robust planning framework and planning tools have been developed, their effectiveness is undermined by inadequate groundwater data and monitoring, and delayed development and implementation of management tools.
Licensing, metering and compliance monitoring activities are not rigorous enough to assure DSE or water corporations about who extracts groundwater and how much they extract. There is also insufficient data about groundwater reserves and sustainable extraction rates.