The draft Long-Term Water Resource Assessment for Southern Victoria (LTWRA) is a critical step in assessing the sustainability of water use in Victoria.
The LTWRA clearly demonstrates that both surface and ground water availability has significantly decreased across southern Victoria, and that this decline has fallen disproportionately on the environment’s share of available water. If action is not taken, the ecological processes on which life depends will come under increasing threat.
Our submission recommends:
- That the same, appropriate time period be used to describe current climate for all sections of the LTWRA and that this be compared with the same baseline, for example 1960-90.
- That the methodology for the LTWRA be reviewed by a body with appropriate expertise, for example the Bureau of Meteorology or CSIRO, and any recommendations followed before the LTWRA is finalised. Any review should be required to determine whether or not the data used in the draft assessment was the best data available.
- That the LTWRA has regard to extremes in climate and stream flows, in addition to average conditions over the relevant time periods.
- That methodological, indicator selection and data collection problems be resolved before the next LTWRA for Northern Victoria is undertaken in 2024
Read our submission below or download it here.