Murray–Darling Basin

14.1 Evaporation from connected surface water

Supporting information

The volumetric value for the line item is 3,158,470 ML for 2009–10. The following table provides a breakdown of evaporation from connected surface water assets in the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB) region.

Region no.	Region name	State	Storage¹	Volume 2009–10 (ML)
1	Paroo	Qld/NSW		–
2	Warrego	Qld/NSW		–
3	Condamine–Balonne	Qld/NSW		60,954
			Buckinbah Weir	4,547
			Chinchilla Weir	4,663
			Connolly Reservoir	908
			Cooby Creek Reservoir	5,099
			Gyranda Weir	1,319
			Jack Taylor weir	5,152
			Lake Kajarabie	31,062
			Lake Leslie	6,075
			Moolabah Weir	1,882
			Neil Turner Weir	247
4	Moonie	Qld/NSW		–
5	Border Rivers	Qld/NSW		41,075
			Glenlyon Lake	13,414
			Lake Coolmunda	13,289
			Lake Inverell	788
			Pindari Lake	11,154
			Storm King Reservoir	1,953
			Tenterfield Creek Reservoir	477
6	Gwydir	NSW		23,180
			Lake Copeton	21,770
			Tareelaroi Weir	1,410
7	Namoi	NSW		61,664
			Chaffey Reservoir	9,789
			Dungowen Reservoir	905
			Gunidgera Weir	1,039
			Lake Keepit	40,418
			Mollee Weir	1,073
			Quipolly Reservoir	2,162
			Split Rock Reservoir	6,279
8	Macquarie–Castlereagh	NSW		74,874
			Chifley Reservoir	4,907
			Lake Burrendong	42,808
			Lake Oberon	7,021
			Lake Windamere	13,418
			Rylstone Reservoir	1,656
			Spring Creek Reservoir	1,454
			Suma Park Reservoir	2,881
			Timor Reservoir	348
			Winburndale Reservoir	382
9	Barwon–Darling	NSW		–
10	Lower Darling	NSW		434,149
			Lake Cawndilla	125,860
			Lake Menindee	51,494
			Lake Wetherell	192,899
			Pamamaroo Lake	49,664
			Stephens Creek Reservoir	14,233
11	Lachlan	NSW		38,964
			Carcoar Lake	883
			Lake Brewster	9,107
			Lake Cargelligo	12,199
			Lake Endeavour	1,024
			Lake Rowlands	1,480
			Lake Wyangala	14,271
12	Wimmera–Avoca	Vic		57,932
			Dock Lake	9,455
			Green Lake	866
			Lake Batyo Catyo	119
			Lake Bellfield	3,811
			Lake Fyans	4,931
			Lake Lonsdale	17,313
			Lake Taylor	7,478
			Lake Whitton	1,398
			Pine Lake	29
			Toolondo Reservoir	96
			Wartook Reservoir	12,437
13	Ovens	Vic		6,172
			Lake Buffalo	4,213
			Lake William Hovell	1,959
14	Goulburn–Broken	Vic		338,029
			Goulburn Weir	19,940
			Greens Lake	9,544
			Lake Eildon	95,497
			Lake Mokoan	134,572
			Lake Nillahcootie	3,573
			Waranga Basin	74,902
15	Loddon	Vic		57,067
			Barkers Creek reservoir	921
			Cairn Curran Reservoir	3,568
			Crusoe Reservoir	492
			Evansford reservoir	447
			Hepburn Lagoon	1,515
			Kow Swamp	43,803
			Laanecoorie Reservoir	1,924
			Mccay Reservoir	302
			Newlyn Reservoir	585
			Sandhurst Reservoir	488
			Spring Gully Reservoir	630
			Tullaroop Reservoir	2,391
16	Campaspe	Vic		20,152
			Campaspe Weir	446
			Lake Eppalock	6,643
			Lauriston Reservoir	3,591
			Malmsbury Reservoir	4,842
			Upper Coliban Reservoir	4,630
17	Murrumbidgee	NSW/ACT		195,091
			Barren Box Swamp	62,915
			Bendora Reservoir	1,087
			Berembed Weir	1,899
			Blowering Reservoir	42,767
			Corin Reservoir	2,831
			Cotter Reservoir	533
			Gogeldrie Weir	4,082
			Googong Reservoir	7,673
			Hay Weir	6,018
			Lake Burley Griffin	10,700
			Lake Burrinjuck	46,725
			Lake Ginninderra	1,853
			Lake Tuggeranong	1,277
			Maude Weir	2,097
			Redbank Weir	330
			Tombullen Storage	2,303
18	Murray	NSW/Vic/SA		1,749,168
			Blanchetown Weir Lock 1	24,948
			Bookpurnong Weir Lock 4	13,355
			Kangaroo Racecourse Lake	21,385
			Lake Albert	224,284
			Lake Alexandrina	872,388
			Lake Banimboola	992
			Lake Dartmouth	52,646
			Lake Guy	136
			Lake Hume	168,813
			Lake Mulwala	78,453
			Lake Victoria	197,038
			Mildura Weir	2,221
			Overland Weir Lock 3	24,155
			Reedy Middle Lake	7,038
			Renmark Weir Lock 5	15,978
			Rocky Valley Storage	3,008
			Third Lake	4,045
			Torrumbarry weir	17,170
			Waikerie Weir Lock 2	21,114
19	Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges	SA		–
	Total			3,158,470

– = no data available

1 Storages include reservoirs and weirs

Quantification approach

Data source

Bureau of Meteorology (the Bureau): data from the National Climatic Centre (NCC) rainfall, temperature and solar radiation grids; geographical information system (GIS) layers; Australian Hydrological Geospatial Fabric (AHGF) waterbody feature class; and Australian Water Resources Information System.

Data provider

Bureau of Meteorology (the Bureau).

Method

Evaporation from the connected surface water store was estimated using monthly open water evaporation data produced by the Bureau, in conjunction with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), as part of the Australian Water Availability Project (AWAP). It is a Penman evaporation estimate based on daily gridded climate data and is available on a 0.05 degree (approximately 5 km) national grid. The daily gridded climate data-sets are generated by the Bureau, and include precipitation, downward solar irradiance, and maximum and minimum air temperature. The methods used to generate these gridded data-sets are outlined in Jones, Wang and Fawcett (2007).

The evaporation from each waterbody was estimated from the average of the grid-points within a 5 km radius of each water feature. The volume was then estimated using the surface area of each waterbody. The average monthly surface area of the major storages was calculated from daily storage levels and capacity tables.

The surface area of most of the storages in the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB) was calculated using this dynamic method. Where capacity table and regular level data were not available for some of the smaller storages and weirs, the default AHGF waterbody feature class was used to estimate a static surface area. Line item value represents the evaporation only from the storages.AHGF.

Uncertainty

The volume was estimated from measured data. Uncertainty is ungraded.

Approximations, assumptions, caveats/limitations

The Penman evaporation estimates are subject to approximations associated with interpolating the observation point data to a national grid detailed in Jones, Wang and Fawcett (2007).
The dynamic storage surface areas calculated from the levels and storage rating tables represent a monthly average and, therefore, will not capture changes that occur on a shorter temporal scale.
The use of the static default AHGF waterbody feature class surface area was an approximation only.

National Water Account 2010