Australian Water Information Dictionary

Alphabetical list of items

A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   Y   Z   other  

C

/

calendar month

A period commencing at the beginning of a day of one of the 12 months of the year and ending immediately before the beginning of the corresponding day of the next month or, if there is no such corresponding day, ending at the expiration of the next month.

Source: Acts Interpretation Act 1901 Part V 22

This definition applies to:

calibration

The process of comparing the response of a measuring device with a calibrator or a measuring standard, of known accuracy, over the measurement range.

Note: The comparison may result in no significant error being noted on the device under test, a significant error being noted but no adjustment made, or an adjustment made to correct the error to an acceptable level either by physical adjustment or by establishing a relationship for obtaining a result from the primary measured value.

Source: derived from AS 3778.1—2009 Clause 7.17. © Standards Australia Limited. Copied by the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology with the permission of Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand under Licence 1901-c052.

This definition applies to:

capacity

The volume of water that a water storage can hold between the minimum supply level and full supply level; equal to the total storage capacity excluding the dead storage capacity. It is the sum of this capacity that is reported for a collection of water storages. See the water storage diagram for more information.

Synonym: accessible storage capacity

This definition applies to:

capillary zone

The zone of soil moisture above the watertable where water is drawn upwards by capillary tension in which the water is at less than atmospheric pressure.

Source: Richardson, S., et al., (2011). Australian groundwater-dependent ecosystem toolbox part 1: assessment framework, Waterlines report, National Water Commission, Canberra

This definition applies to:

carryover

The option to hold in storage a portion of unused seasonal allocations for use at a later date.

This definition applies to:

casing

The construction component that lines a bore and provides the conduit from the water-producing zone to the surface.

Related: construction log

This definition applies to:

catchment

The land area draining to a point of interest, such as a water storage or monitoring site on a watercourse.

Related:

This definition applies to:

catchment area

The extent of land where water from precipitation drains into the water storage.

Related: catchment

This definition applies to:

Category 1 water information

Surface water resource information

Related FAQ: What does Category 1 information include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Schedule 3 Part 2. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

Related:

This definition applies to:

Category 11 water information

Water information for flood warning purposes

Related FAQ: What does Category 11 information include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Schedule 3 Part 11. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

Related:

This definition applies to:

Category 2 water information

Ground water resource information

Related FAQ: What does Category 2 information include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Schedule 3 Part 3. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

Related:

This definition applies to:

Category 3 water information

Water storage information

Related FAQ: What does Category 3 information include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Schedule 3 Part 4. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

Related:

This definition applies to:

Category 4 water information

Meteorological information

Related FAQ: What does Category 4 information include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Schedule 3 Part 5. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

Related:

This definition applies to:

Category 5 water information

Water use information

Related FAQ: What does Category 5 information include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Schedule 3 Part 6. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

Related:

This definition applies to:

Category 6 water information

Information about water rights, allocations and trades

Related FAQ: What does Category 6 information include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Schedule 3 Part 7. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

Related:

This definition applies to:

Category 7 water information

Information about urban water management

Related FAQ: What does Category 7 information include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Schedule 3 Part 8. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

Related:

This definition applies to:

Category 8 water information

Information about water restrictions

Related FAQ: What does Category 8 information include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Schedule 3 Part 9. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

Related: subcategory 8a water information

This definition applies to:

Category 9 water information

Water quality information

Related FAQ: What does Category 9 information include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Schedule 3 Part 10. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

Related:

This definition applies to:

Category A person

A person specified as a Category A person in the document titled Persons and Classes of Persons

Related FAQ: Who/what are persons?, What does Category A include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Regulation 1.03. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

This definition applies to:

Category B person

A person specified as a Category B person in the document titled Persons and Classes of Persons

Related FAQ: Who/what are persons?, What does Category B include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Regulation 1.03. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

This definition applies to:

Category C person

A person specified as a Category C person in the document titled Persons and Classes of Persons

Related FAQ: Who/what are persons?, What does Category C include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Regulation 1.03. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

This definition applies to:

Category D person

A person specified as a Category D person in the document titled Persons and Classes of Persons

Related FAQ: Who/what are persons?, What does Category D include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Regulation 1.03. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

This definition applies to:

Category E person

A person specified as a Category E person in the document titled Persons and Classes of Persons

Related FAQ: Who/what are persons?, What does Category E include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Regulation 1.03.For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

This definition applies to:

Category F person

A person specified as a Category F person in the document titled Persons and Classes of Persons

Related FAQ: Who/what are persons?, What does Category F include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Regulation 1.03. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

This definition applies to:

Category G person

A person specified as a Category G person in the document titled Persons and Classes of Persons

Related FAQ: Who/what are persons?, What does Category G include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Regulation 1.03. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

This definition applies to:

Category H person

A person specified as a Category H person in the document titled Persons and Classes of Persons

Related FAQ: Who/what are persons?, What does Category H include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Regulation 1.03. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

This definition applies to:

Category K person

A person specified as a Category K person in the document titled Persons and Classes of Persons

Related FAQ: Who/what are persons?, What does Category K include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Regulation 1.03. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

This definition applies to:

Category L person

A person specified as a Category L person in the document titled Persons and Classes of Persons

Related FAQ: Who/what are persons?, What does Category L include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Subregulation 1.03(1). For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

This definition applies to:

Category M person

A person specified as a Category M person in the document titled Persons and Classes of Persons

Related FAQ: Who/what are persons?, What does Category M include?

Source: Water Regulations 2008 Subregulation 1.03(1). For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to Federal Register of Legislation

This definition applies to:

CDIRS

computerised design IFD rainfall system

This definition applies to:

cease to flow

The level or physical location at which a stream stops flowing. The lowest point in the low flow control.

This definition applies to:

change in net water assets

There are multiple contexts for this item

Context 1

Increases or decreases in net water assets for the water report entity from one reporting date to the next.

This definition applies to:

Context 2

The change in net water assets for the region from one reporting date to the next.

This definition applies to:

change in net water storage

The change in net water storage for the region from one report date to the next.

This definition applies to:

change in water assets

There are multiple contexts for this item

Context 1

Increases or decreases in the water report entity’s water assets from one reporting date to the next.

This definition applies to:

Context 2

Increases or decreases in the region’s water assets from one reporting date to the next.

This definition applies to:

change in water liabilities

There are multiple contexts for this item

Context 1

Increases or decreases in the water report entity’s water liabilities from one reporting date to the next.

This definition applies to:

Context 2

Increases or decreases in the region’s water liabilities from one reporting date to the next.

This definition applies to:

change in water storage

Increases or decreases in water storage for a water report entity from one reporting date to the next.

This definition applies to:

channel

An artificial or constructed waterway designed to convey water. Often described as open channels to distinguish then from pipes, channels can be categorised as: main (or major) channels whose primary purpose is to convey bulk water from headworks storage or river diversion points into the distribution system; or distribution channels whose primary purpose is to deliver water from main channels to individual farms. The term canal may sometimes be used for main channels that are used for other purposes than just conveyance of bulk water, such as recreation or transport.

This definition applies to:

chromosols

Soils with an abrupt increase in clay content down the soil profile. Occur in all parts of Australia. Common in the cereal belt of southern New South Wales and Victoria.

Source: R F Isbell, 1996, The Australian Soil Classification, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

This definition applies to:

claims to water

A right to water or an interest or claim associated with a right to water.

This definition applies to:

claims to water decreases

Adjustments to claims to water in the region. For example, amounts written off as a result of the operation of rules or upon agreement between the relevant parties.

This definition applies to:

climate

The average long-term weather conditions in a particular area. See the Climate Glossary webpage for more information.

This definition applies to:

climatic condition

The condition of the climate (e.g. rainfall, temperature, humidity) over a particular period such as a year or a month.

This definition applies to:

closing net water assets

Net water assets at the end of the reporting period.

Related: net water assets

This definition applies to:

closing water storage

There are multiple contexts for this item

Context 1

The total water storage in water assets in the region at the end of the reporting period.

This definition applies to:

Context 2

The total water storage for a water report entity at the reporting date.

This definition applies to:

coefficient of variation

A normalized measure of dispersion of a probability distribution. The coefficient of variation is the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean.

Source: Business Dictionary, viewed 6 August 2013.

This definition applies to:

commercial water

The total amount of metered and estimated non-metered, potable and non-potable, water supplied to commercial properties.

This definition applies to:

compliance

Adherence to relevant externally-imposed requirements, or with broader notions of best practice relevant to water reporting entities, such as statutory requirements, regulations, rules, ordinances, or directives, in respect of which non-compliance may have, or may have had, an economic, environmental or social effect.

This definition applies to:

conceptual model

There are multiple contexts for this item

Context 1

A platform independent model for showing the entities and relationship between the features of interest generally described using UML.

Source: Geofabric Product Guide V2.0

Related: UML

This definition applies to:

Context 2

Documentation of a conceptual understanding of the location of GDEs and interaction between ecosystems and groundwater.

Source: Richardson, S., et al., (2011). Australian groundwater-dependent ecosystem toolbox part 1: assessment framework, Waterlines report, National Water Commission, Canberra

This definition applies to:

confined aquifer

An aquifer overlain by a confining bed. The confining bed has a significantly lower hydraulic conductivity than the aquifer. Typically, groundwater in a confined aquifer is under pressure significantly greater than atmospheric pressure.

This definition applies to:

connected surface water

All the surface water bodies connected to the river channel network, with the exception of the off-channel but connected man-made water structures.

This definition applies to:

connected surface water decreases

Decreases in connected surface water due to natural processes or diversion of water.

This definition applies to:

connected surface water increases

Increases in connected surface water due to natural processes or return of water.

This definition applies to:

connected surface water inflows

Volume of physical inflows to connected surface water during the reporting period; from outside the region or from other stores.

This definition applies to:

connected surface water outflows

Volume of physical outflows from connected surface water during the reporting period; to outside the region or to other stores.

This definition applies to:

connected surface water store

Comprises all the surface water bodies connected, either seasonally or perennially, to the river channel network that are administered by the jurisdictions. Also includes any other surface water body which contains water not yet ‘abstracted’, such as storages managed by organisations to provide water to urban centres.

This definition applies to:

construction line

A three dimensional line feature class that represents the construction information (e.g. casing and bore screen) along a borehole

This definition applies to:

construction log

A table with bore construction information along a borehole (e.g. casing and bore screen).

This definition applies to:

constructive obligation

An obligation that derives from actions of the management of a water report entity whereby:

a) an established pattern of past practice, published policies or sufficiently specific current statement means that the management of the water report entity has indicated to other parties that it will accept certain responsibilities; and

b) as a result, a valid expectation has been created on the part of those other parties that the management of the water report entity will discharge those responsibilities.

This definition applies to:

consumptive pool

The amount of a water resource that can be made available for consumptive use in a particular water resource plan area under the rules of the water resource plan for that water resource plan area.

This definition applies to:

consumptive use

Use of water for private benefit consumptive purposes including irrigation, industry, urban and stock and domestic use.

This definition applies to:

contingent water asset

A possible water asset that arises from past events and whose existence will be confirmed only by the occurrence or non-occurrence of one or more uncertain future events not wholly within the control of the management of the water report entity.

This definition applies to:

contingent water liability

A possible obligation that arises from past events and whose existence will be confirmed only by the occurrence or non-occurrence of one or more uncertain future events not wholly within the control of the management of the water report entity.

This definition applies to:

continuous monitoring

Collecting repeated measurements of a parameter over time, typically using automatic sensing and recording instruments.

This definition applies to:

continuous ranked probability score (CRPS)

A measure of forecast accuracy score calculated in the original measurement space. Both the forecast and the observation are converted to cumulative density functions. In the case of the observation, this is a step function. The squared area between the two functions is the single CRPS value, which is averaged across all forecasts. Alt text

This definition applies to:

contracted catchment

A set of low level catchments derived from the nine second digital elevation model (DEM) with a contracted node at the outflow point.

Source: Geofabric Product Guide V2.0

Related:

This definition applies to:

contracted node

An entity within the Geofabric that represents a logical feature in the landscape such as the confluence of two major rivers or a significant monitoring location. A contracted node has a unique and persistent identifier.

This definition applies to:

control

Physical properties of a cross-section or a reach of an open channel, either natural or artificial, that govern the relation between stage and discharge at a location in the open channel.

Source: AS3778.1—2009 Clause 1.91. © Standards Australia Limited. Copied by the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology with the permission of Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand under Licence 1901-c052.

This definition applies to:

conveyance water

Water required primarily to operate regulated rivers and utility supply networks to enable the delivery of water.

This definition applies to:

Creative Commons

An international non-profit organisation that provides free licences and tools that copyright owners can use to allow others to share, reuse and remix their material, legally.

Source: Creative Commons Australia

This definition applies to:

cross-section

The section of a stream is the section normal to the mean direction of flow bounded by the free surface and wetted perimeter of the stream.

Source: AS3778.1—2009 Clause 1.58. © Standards Australia Limited. Copied by the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology with the permission of Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand under Licence 1901-c052.

This definition applies to:

CSIRO

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

This definition applies to:

CSV

comma separated values.

A computer text file where numbers are written as characters separated by commas.

This definition applies to:

CTF

cease to flow

The level or physical location at which a stream stops flowing, the lowest point in the low flow control.

This definition applies to:

cultural basic right

Right that allows diversion of water for anyone who holds native title with respect to water, as determined under the Native Title Act 1993 (Commonwealth).

This definition applies to:

cumecs

Cubic metres per second (m³/s). International System of Units (SI Units) of measure for instantaneous discharge (rate unit).

This definition applies to:

current meter

Instrument for measuring water velocity.

Source: AS3778.1—2009 Clause 2.56. © Standards Australia Limited. Copied by the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology with the permission of Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand under Licence 1901-c052.

This definition applies to:

CV

coefficient of variation

A normalized measure of dispersion of a probability distribution. The coefficient of variation is the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean.

This definition applies to: