Allocation Bank Account: Allocations made throughout the irrigation season are credited to the allocation bank account (ABA) of each water share holder. The balance of an ABA is the amount of water available to the owner of the associated water share for the current season.

Aquifer: A layer of underground sediments which holds groundwater or allows water to flow through it.

Basin (river basin): The area of land which a river and its tributaries drain. In the State Water Report river basins are consistent with those defined by the Australian Water Resource Council (AWRC). The exception is the Murray basin which, for the purposes of this report, includes the Upper Murray basin as defined by AWRC and areas in Victoria supplied from the River Murray downstream of Lake Hume. See also ‘river basin’.

Bulk entitlement: The right to water held by water and other authorities defined in the Water Act 1989. The bulk entitlement defines the amount of water from a river or storage to which an authority is entitled, and may include the rate at which it may be taken and the reliability of the entitlement.

Bulk entitlement conversion order: The statutory instrument used to issue the bulk entitlement under the provisions in the Water Act 1989.

Consumptive entitlement: A water entitlement that permits the holder to use the water taken under the entitlement for the purposes of consumption.

Cap: A limit placed on the amount of water that can be taken from a system within a specific time-frame.

Catchment: An area of land where run-off from rainfall goes into one river system.

Catchment management authorities (CMAs): Statutory bodies established under the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994. CMAs have responsibilities under both the Catchment and Land Protection Act and the Water Act 1989 which include river health, regional and catchment planning and coordination, and waterway, floodplain, salinity and water quality management.

Declared Water Systems – A water system that has been declared in accordance with section 6A of the Water Act 1989. Water rights and take and use licences in declared water systems have been converted into water shares, delivery shares and a water use licence.

Delivery share: An entitlement to have water delivered to land in an irrigation district and a share of the available water flow in a delivery system

Entitlement: See ‘water entitlement’.

Environment: Surroundings in which an organisation operates including air, water, land, natural resources, flora, fauna, humans and their interdependence.

Environmental (bulk) entitlement: A water entitlement held by the Minister for the Environment that permits the use of water in a river or storage for a purpose that benefits the environment.

Environmental flow: The streamflow required to maintain appropriate environmental conditions in a waterway.

Environmental Water Reserve (EWR): The share of water resources set aside to maintain the environmental values of a water system and other water services that are dependent on the environmental condition of the system.

Gigalitre: One thousand megalitres.

Groundwater: All water occurring in an aquifer.

Groundwater entitlement limit: The amount of water which can be allocated in an aquifer under licences and is defined by the permissible consumptive volume.

Groundwater management unit (GMU): A discrete area where specific groundwater management rules are defined. Either a groundwater management area (GMA), a water supply protection area (WSPA) or unincorporated area.

Groundwater management area (GMA): A discrete area where groundwater resources of a suitable quality for irrigation, commercial or domestic and stock use are available or expected to be available.

Groundwater management plan: A management plan prepared for a water supply protection area to manage the groundwater resources of the area.

High-reliability water share: A water share against which seasonal allocations made as a first priority. High-reliability water-shares are expected to reach 100% allocations in 95 years out of 100.

Irrigation district: An area declared under the Water Act 1989 supplied with water by channels and pipelines used mainly for irrigation purposes.

Low reliability water share: A water share with a relatively low reliability of supply. In northern Victoria, these shares will be of the available water once there is enough water to meet higher-reliability water shares in the current year, and, with minimum inflows, to meet higher-reliability water shares in the following year

Megalitre: One million litres.

Order (ordering of water): The advance notification given by individual entitlement holders to the storage operator to enable the storage operator to regulate water flows so that all entitlement holders’ needs can be met at the agreed time.

Permissible consumptive volume (PCV): The total amount of water that can be taken in a groundwater management area under a Ministerial declaration.

Recycled water: Water derived from sewerage systems or industry processes which is treated to a standard that is appropriate for its intended use.

Regulated river: A river containing structures such as dams or major diversion weirs which control the flow of water in the river for licensed diverters or users in an irrigation district.

Reliability: Water shares are classed according to their reliability, which is defined by the frequency with which full seasonal allocations are expected to be available. Most water shares are classified as either high-reliability or low-reliability water shares.

River: Large stream of water flowing to sea or lake or marsh or another river.

River basin: The land which a river and its tributaries drain. See also ’basin’.

Sales water: Lower-reliability water offered to irrigators on a seasonal basis, in proportion to their base rights, after provision has been made to meet the base rights in the following year.

Seasonal water allocation: The amount of water available for a water year, determined by the water authority and expressed as a percentage of a water share. Sometimes shortened to ‘allocation’.

Small catchment dam: A farm dam that is filled from its own catchment and is not located on a waterway. This includes small catchment dams used for domestic and stock purposes which are not required to be licensed. It also includes dams used for commercial and irrigation use which are now required to be registered (under the Water Act 1989), but for which registration has not yet been completed.

Stormwater: Untreated rainfall run-off from urban areas.

Streamflow management plan: A management plan prepared for a water supply protection area to manage the surface water resources of the area.

Unassociated water share: Water shares whose owner does not also own or occupy land with a water-use licence that has nominated for the allocations to be used on. These water shares are held independently from land

Unbundling: The conversion of a prior water right or take and use licence in a declared water system into three separate entitlements being: a water share; a delivery share or extraction share; and a water-use licence.

Unincorporated area: An area of Victoria which contains substantial and often unquantified groundwater of varying yield and quality that has not been designated as either a groundwater management area or a water supply protection area.

Unregulated river: A river that does not contain any dams or major diversion weirs which control the flow of water in the river.

Water Corporations: Corporations (previously known as Authorities) established under the Water Act 1989 that have responsibilities to supply water for urban, irrigation, domestic, stock and commercial use in irrigation districts and water districts. Some corporations also have delegated responsibilities for controlling the diversion of water from waterways, passing flows and the extraction of groundwater.

Water entitlement: The volume of water authorised to be taken and used by an irrigator or water authority. Water entitlements include bulk entitlements, environmental entitlements, water rights, sales water, surface water and groundwater licences.

Water shares: A water entitlement held by a water authority or person. The government has passed legislation enabling all water rights and licences to be converted into water shares. The first conversions were put in place in July 2007. For more information, refer to the Our Water Our Future action plan. Water shares may be high-reliability or low-reliability

Water supply protection area: An area declared under Section 27 of the Water Act 1989 to protect the area’s groundwater or surface water resources through the development of a management plan which aims for equitable management and long term sustainability.

Waterway: The Water Act 1989 defines a waterway as a river, creek, stream, watercourse and a natural channel where water regularly flows, whether or not the flow is continuous.

Works licence: A licence that authorises the construction, alteration, operation, removal or decommissioning of: any works on a waterway; or a bore; or a dam belonging to a prescribed class of dams.

Yield: The quantity of water that a storage or aquifer produces.