Groundwater Catchments (GC): Aquifer and Management Boundaries for Victoria

Groundwater Catchments (GC) is a geospatial boundary layer for Victoria, Australia, produced by the Secure Allocations, Future Entitlement (SAFE) Project. The dataset delineates groundwater catchments by integrating aquifer systems, groundwater flow, surface water catchments, and administrative management boundaries. It was last updated on 2026-04-08 by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action.

Use Cases

• Model groundwater flow and aquifer connectivity based on integrated physical boundaries.
• Plan water resource management and allocation within administrative areas like Groundwater Management Areas (GMAs).
• Analyze the interconnection between surface water and groundwater resources using aligned catchment boundaries.
• Support environmental reporting and compliance within frameworks like the Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA).

Strengths

• Integrates multiple boundary types: physical (flow divides, geology) and administrative (WSPAs, GMAs, RWC areas).
• Provides complete spatial coverage of the state of Victoria.
• Explicitly aligns with key surface water datasets, including Bureau of Meteorology basins and Sustainable Diversion Limit catchments.
• Available under a permissive CC-BY-4.0 license.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific analytical tasks.

Provenance

Source

Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (Victoria, Australia), via the SAFE Project.

Collection Method

Developed to provide complete coverage of Victoria, considering aquifer systems, groundwater movement, and alignment with physical and administrative boundaries.

Time Range

Creation date is not specified; the dataset reflects boundaries as of its last update.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-08 23:04:31.148877; freshness should be verified.

Geography

State of Victoria, Australia.