Water & River Levels
The Mallee runs on Murray River water — for irrigation, towns and the environment. This page explains how allocations work and links out to the live dashboards that track river levels, storage volumes and trading prices in real time. This site is static, so figures here are not live — always check the source for current numbers.
How allocations work
Victorian irrigators hold a water entitlement — a share of a river system's available water. Each season, the water corporation (in the Mallee, mostly Lower Murray Water or Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water) announces a seasonal allocation: the percentage of that entitlement actually available to use, based on storage levels, inflows and rules set out in the region's bulk entitlements.
Allocations start conservative early in the season and are typically increased as storages fill or rain arrives. Water not used in a season can often be carried over to the next, up to a cap. Entitlement holders can also trade — buying extra allocation in a dry year or selling a surplus — through the Victorian Water Register or a licensed water broker.
Because the Mallee sits at the bottom of the Murray system, local allocations depend heavily on what happens upstream — rainfall in the Snowy Mountains and northern Victoria, and how much is released from storages like Hume and Dartmouth.
Live data & dashboards
MDBA River Murray data
Live river heights, flows and storage volumes for the River Murray system, including gauges near Mildura, Swan Hill and Robinvale.
Open live site →Bureau of Meteorology — river heights
Live river height readings and flood warnings for Victorian and Murray-Darling Basin gauges.
Open live site →Victorian Water Register
Water entitlements, seasonal allocations and current allocation trade prices for Victorian trading zones.
Open live site →Murray-Darling Basin Authority
Basin-wide water management, storage releases and the Basin Plan.
Open live site →Storages that matter to the Mallee
Dartmouth Dam
Mitta Mitta River, upper Murray system
Victoria's largest water storage — a deep, low-loss "insurance" storage typically drawn down only when Hume is low.
Hume Dam
Upper Murray River, near Albury-Wodonga
The main regulating storage for the Murray — releases from Hume drive flows all the way down to the Mallee.
Lake Eildon
Goulburn River
Feeds the Goulburn system, which connects into the Murray via the Goulburn Weir — relevant to Murray flows in dry years.
Menindee Lakes
Lower Darling River, NSW
A major storage on the Darling that can supplement Murray flows past Robinvale and Mildura when operated for that purpose.