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Abstract
An 8800 km pipeline has been constructed in western Victoria to replace 17,500 km of open channel system. The Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Project (WMPP) will provide reticulated water to 36 towns and about 6000farms across an area of approximately 2 million hectares. With this pipeline will come vastly improved efficiencies in the supply of water, with water savings being returned to the environment, existing consumptive use and new development. One of the challenges for managers of water recovery projects is to determine the most effective form of entitlement for the beneficiaries of the water savings. In regulated systems, consumptive entitlements are generally supplied from water held in storage, where as the environment has a share of the run-of-river flow specified in the form of a minimum passing flow rule. However, in some cases, such as in the Wimmera-Mallee system, the environment may have the option of both regulated and unregulated entitlements. The objective of the present study was to demonstrate the effect the environment’s entitlement configuration has on the volume of water supplied to the environment, and the overall efficiency of the water supply system under the historic climatic sequence and climate change. The modelling work is undertaken using the REALM simulation package, with the results presented in case study form based on the Wimmera-Mallee system, outlining the changes in the total system water balance post-Wimmera Mallee Pipeline, changes in the environment’s reliability of supply, and exceedance plots for environmental flows and headworks loss. The outcomes of this study demonstrate the need to consider the trade-offs between large entitlements of low reliability and small entitlements of high reliability as part of the system reconfiguration process, given the effect it has on total system efficiency, particularly in an uncertain climate future.
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Notes on contributors
W Godoy
Walter Godoy is a PhD student at Victoria University, studying multi-objective optimisation of water supply systems. He has over 14 years experience working in the Victorian water industry, working initially as part of the water allocation group at the Department of Sustainability and Environment and then working as a contractor providing REALM modelling services for the Wimmera-Mallee Pipeline Project. Walter has provided expert modelling services and advice to government agencies and other specialist consultants within the industry. He has been directly involved in water resources projects across Victoria, including the Wimmera-Mallee, Gellibrand, Werribee, Maribyrnong, Melbourne, Tarago, Thomson-Macalister and Latrobe systems.
A F Barton
Dr Andrew Barton is a practicing senior water resources engineer at GWMWater, based in Horsham, Victoria. His responsibilities span the oversight of the day-to-day operation of the Grampians headworks system, managing the Wimmera-Glenelg Bulk Entitlements, managing catchment monitoring, developing seasonal water supply plans, assisting in the development of policy and procedures for water resources controlled by GWMWater, and overseeing and participating in a number of GWMWater’s research activities. Andrew also holds adjunct positions at the University of Ballarat (Centre for Informatics and Applied Optimisation) and Victoria University (Institute for Sustainability and Innovation), where he participates in a number of applied research projects.