The National Water Account 2010 acknowledges the varying to water that support water resource management in Australia.
The jurisdictional legislative water resource management frameworks vary greatly between jurisdictions, sometimes making comparisons difficult. To facilitate meaningful comparison between the water-accounting reports included in the National Water Account 2010, the Bureau of Meteorology has developed and applied an accounting concept to classify and report water entitlements within a water-asset/water-liability framework. The accounting concepts for ‘regulated’ and ‘unregulated’ may differ from the legislative interpretation in some jurisdictions.
The water rights, allocations and abstraction relevant to the Ord region for 2009–10 are presented in the table below.
|
Line Item |
Volume |
Line item # |
Volume (ML) |
Line item # |
Volume (ML) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Water rights |
Water allocations |
Water abstraction/use |
|||
|
R1 Surface water rights |
|
|
|
|
|
|
R1.2 Water access entitlement - unregulated flows |
17,415 |
|
14.6 |
17,415 |
|
|
R1.2.5 Other - lumped class |
17,415 |
14.6.5 |
17,415 |
||
|
R1.2.5.6 Other lumped holder |
17,415 |
14.6.5.6 |
17,415 |
||
|
R1.3 Water access entitlement - regulated flows |
355,832 |
25.1 |
355,832 |
14.7 |
161,041 |
|
R1.3.9 Other lumped class |
355,832 |
25.1.9 |
355,832 |
14.7.9 |
161,041 |
|
R1.3.9.1 bulk irrigator holder |
338,900 |
25.1.9.1 |
338,900 |
14.7.9.1 |
151,154 |
|
R1.3.9.4 Urban holder |
700 |
25.1.9.4 |
700 |
14.7.9.4 |
459 |
|
R1.3.9.7 Other lumped holder |
16,232 |
25.1.9.7 |
16,232 |
14.7.9.7 |
9,428 |
|
R2 Groundwater rights |
|
|
|
|
|
|
R2.2 Groundwater entitlement |
13,829 |
27.1 |
13,829 |
16.5 |
7,946 |
|
R2.2.3 Other lumped class |
13,829 |
27.1.3 |
13,829 |
16.5.3 |
7,946 |
|
R2.2.3.4 Urban holder |
2,700 |
27.1.3.4 |
2,700 |
16.5.3.4 |
1,670 |
|
R2.2.3.7 Other lumped holder |
11,129 |
27.1.3.7 |
11,129 |
16.5.3.7 |
6,276 |
Unregulated water access entitlements are water rights that cannot command the release of water to satisfy those rights, or are not adjacent to a waterbody that has its water level maintained so that holders of those rights can access the water.
In the Ord region, water access entitlements are considered to be unregulated for the purposes of the 2010 Account if they abstract water from one or more of the following resources:
The Keep River is considered to be unregulated for the purposes of the 2010 Account, although there were no water access entitlements associated with the river during the reporting period.
Regulated water access entitlements are water rights that can be satisfied by the release of water from entitlement storages, or are adjacent to a waterbody that has its water level maintained so that holders of those rights can access the water.
In the case of the Ord region, water access entitlements are considered to be regulated for the purposes of the 2010 Account if they abstract water from one or more of the following resources:
All groundwater entitlements in the Ord region are considered to be regulated entitlements for the purpose of the 2010 Account.
Current annual water entitlement limits, and annual entitlements granted as at 2009–10 are shown in the table below:
|
Resource areas (management sub-areas) |
Annual water entitlement limit (ML/year) |
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
(ML/year) |
Percentage of limit (%) |
||
|
The Upper Ord |
15,000 |
9,000 |
60 |
|
Main Ord |
750,000 |
346,000 |
46 |
|
Tarrara–Carlton |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Carlton–Mantinea |
115,000 |
0 |
0 |
|
Dunham River |
25,000 |
17,000 |
68 |
|
Total |
905,000 |
372,000 |
41 |
Annual water allocations are the quantity of water available after environmental water provisions and domestic requirements have been met, and are determined and announced by the Western Australian Department of Water in April each year.
To date, the Western Australian Department of Water has not had to announce an annual water allocation less than the annual water entitlement.
The Rights in Water and Irrigation Act 1914 regulates the trading and transferring of licences in Western Australia. The powers of the Act are confined to Western Australia; therefore, interstate trade is not permitted.
The Rights in Water and Irrigation Act 1914 permits the trading or transferring of licences within the same water-management area, subject to compliance with the Act and other administrative issues.
Inter-valley trading of water entitlements did not occur in the Ord region during the reporting period.
The Articles of Association of the Ord Irrigation Cooperative provide for trade of on-farm water entitlements between members. Details of trades are provided to the Western Australian Department of Water in an annual report. No trades have occurred to date.
No restrictions on trades or transfers in addition to those described above were in place during 2009–10.
National Water Account 2010
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