VPRS 19372 Groundwater Observation Bore Catalogue

Full description

This series comprises a catalogue of groundwater observation bores produced by the Groundwater Section of the Department of Industry, Technology and Resources (VA 2661) in 1988.

The Department was responsible under the Groundwater Act (1969) for the exploration, investigation and evaluation of the State’s groundwater resources, and established an extensive network of observation bores throughout Victoria for monitoring purposes. 

This catalogue includes bore identification descriptions and the construction details of all groundwater observation bores completed prior to the end of 1985. Also recorded is the quality of the groundwater, with hydrographs showing water level fluctuations over time. The frequency of monitoring ranged from continuous to quarterly, with the most common frequency being monthly. The observation bores are predominantly located in the five major Tertiary sedimentary basins – the Murray, Otway, Port Phillip, Westernport, and Gippsland basins. Each volume refers to bores drilled in three broad geographical regions of Victoria: ‘Southeast Victoria’, ‘South West Victoria’, and ‘Northern Victoria’.

The first comprehensive groundwater bore database was assembled in the late 1960s by the Geological Survey of Victoria (VA 4118). Prior to the mid-1980s, all bore locations were plotted on map sheets and records kept in hard copy only. A digital database compiled from these existing records of all Government and private bores was progressively assembled from the mid-1980s onwards. This catalogue was the first compilation of information on Victoria’s groundwater bores, compiled from numerous data banks held by the Department at the time and contributed to by professional, technical, and drilling staff.

Each observation bore has a unique identification comprised of parish name and sequential bore number within that parish. Each parish is also numbered according to its position in the alphabetical listing of all parishes within the State (as of 1985).

Bores within each parish are differentiated according to drilling authority. Bore numbers between 1 and 7999 were drilled by government agencies, mainly the Department of Industry, Technology and Resources (DITR), State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV) or Rural Water Corporation (RWC). Bores in the range 8000 to 9999 refer to private bores drilled outside the jurisdiction of the Groundwater Act (1969) and bores numbered 10000 or greater are water bores drilled under the controls of the Groundwater Act (1969).

Bores drilled by DITR are given a consecutive number as a temporary identification. These numbers have three components, namely DITR drilling rig number, year drilled, and sequential number of bores drilled in that year by that particular rig. Bores given the consecutive number 99/99/999 were drilled by private contractors for government agencies.

Bore locations are provided as a map reference using the Standard Australian Metric Grid (AMG) co-ordinate system. Information provided includes AMG Zone and Co-ordinates (easting and northing) together with the 1:100 000 Map Sheet reference. The elevation of the land surface at bore sites is given relative to the Australian Height Datum (AHD), i.e., the reduced level of the natural surface, given as meters AHD.