Murray–Darling Basin
5.1 Surface water allocation remaining

The volumetric value for the line item for the 2011–12 year was 6,999,878 ML. The line item represents surface water allocation remaining (excluding urban water systems) associated with a number of entitlement classes in the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB) region as at 30 June 2012. Information on surface water allocation remaining for urban water systems is included in line item 5.2 Surface water allocation remaining–urban water system.

Water allocation carry-over

The following two tables provide a summary and breakdown information on surface water allocation carry-over (excluding urban water systems) within the region. 

 

Summary of surface water allocation carry-over (excluding urban water systems) in the MDB region at the start and end of the 2011–12 year

Surface water resource plan area		State/Territory	Volume on 30 June 2012 (ML)	Volume on 30 June 2011 (ML)
Code	Name
SW19	Warrego–Paroo–Nebine	Qld	0	0
SW18	Condamine–Balonne	Qld	15,212	14,667
SW17	Moonie	Qld	n/a	n/a
SW16	Qld Border Rivers	Qld	0	0
SW15	NSW Border Rivers	NSW	211,257	209,506
SW11	Barwon–Darling Watercourse	NSW	n/a	n/a
SW12	NSW Intersecting Streams	NSW	n/a	n/a
SW14	Gwydir	NSW	758,824	342,553
SW13	Namoi	NSW	450,972	255,402
SW10	Macquarie–Castlereagh	NSW	654,284	519,557
Sub-total Northern Basin			2,090,549	1,341,685
SW9	Lachlan	NSW	856,355	697,722
SW8	Murrumbidgee NSW	NSW	617,984	602,218
SW7	NSW Murray and Lower Darling	NSW	811,121	1,274,639
SW3	Northern Victoria	Vic.	1,156,234	1,238,956
SW2	Vic. Murray	Vic.	1,467,636	1,625,117
SW4	Wimmera–Mallee	Vic.	0	0
SW6	Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges	SA	–	–
SW5	SA Murray	SA	–	–
SW1	ACT	ACT	n/a	n/a
Sub-total Southern Basin			4,909,329	5,438,652
Total for the region			6,999,878	6,780,337

– = Data not available

 

Details of surface water allocation carry-over (excluding urban water systems) in the MDB region at the start and end of the 2011–12 year

Water resource plan area	Sustainable diversion limit area		State	Entitlement class	Volume on 30 June 2012 (ML)	Volume on 30 June 2011 (ML)
	Code	Name
SW19 Warrego–Paroo–Nebine	SS28	Warrego	Qld	Supplemented	0	0
SW18 Condamine–Balonne	SS26	Condamine–Balonne	Qld	Supplemented	15,212	14,667
SW16 Qld Border Rivers	SS24	Qld Border Rivers	Qld	Supplemented	0	0
Sub-total Queensland					15,212	14,667
SW15 NSW Border Rivers	SS23	NSW Border Rivers	NSW	High security	0	0
				General security	211,257	209,506
				Stock and domestic	0	0
				Sub-total	211,257	209,506
SW14 Gwydir	SS22	Gwydir	NSW	High security	0	0
				General security	758,824	342,553
				Stock and domestic	0	0
				High security– research	0	0
				Sub-total	758,824	342,553
SW13 Namoi	SS21	Namoi	NSW	High security	0	0
				General security	450,972	255,402
				Stock and domestic	0	0
				High security– research	0	0
				Sub-total	450,972	255,402
SW10 Macquarie–Castlereagh	SS20	Macquarie–Castlereagh	NSW	High security	0	0
				General security	654,514	519,830
				Stock and domestic	–231	–273
				High security– research	0	0
				Sub-total	654,284	519,557
SW9 Lachlan	SS16	Lachlan	NSW	High security	0	0
				General security	838,451	684,158
				Stock and domestic	–7	0
				Conveyance	17,911	13,564
				Sub-total	856,355	697,722
SW8 Murrumbidgee NSW	SS15	Murrumbidgee NSW	NSW	High security	0	–16
				General security	528,569	509,015
				Stock and domestic	0	0
				Conveyance	89,415	93,219
				High security– research	0
				High security– Aboriginal cultural	0
				Sub-total	617,984	602,218
SW7 NSW Murray and Lower Darling	SS18	Lower Darling	NSW	High security	0	0
				General security	56,643	50,831
				Stock and domestic	0	0
				Sub-total	56,643	50,831
	SS14	NSW Murray	NSW	High security	–141	86,385
				General security	759,755	1,136,667
				Stock and domestic	–35	–119
				Conveyance	–5,101	41
				High security– research	0	800
				High security– Aboriginal cultural	0	0
				High security– community & education	0	35
				Sub-total	754,478	1,223,808
Sub-total New South Wales					4,360,796	3,901,597
SW3 Northern Victoria	SS4	Ovens	Vic.	High reliability water share	0	0
	SS5	Broken	Vic.	Combined high and low reliability	9,753	10,067
	SS6	Goulburn	Vic.	Combined high and low reliability	759,258	836,107
	SS7	Campaspe	Vic.	Combined high and low reliability	198,978	212,682
	SS8	Loddon	Vic.	Combined high and low reliability	188,245	180,100
SW2 Vic. Murray	SS2	Vic. Murray	Vic.	Combined high and low reliability	1,467,636	1,625,117
SW4 Wimmera–Mallee	SS9	Wimmera–Mallee	Vic.	High reliability water share	0	0
Sub-total Victoria					2,623,870	2,864,073
SW6 Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges	SS13	Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges	SA	Regulated	–	–
				unregulated	–	–
				Sub-total	0	–
SW5 SA Murray	SS11	SA Murray	SA	Class 1–Stock and domestic	0	0
				Class 3–Irrigation and holding	0	0
				Class 4– Recreation	0	0
				Class 5–Industrial	0	0
				Class 7– Environment	0	0
				Class 8– Environmental land management	0	0
				Class 9–Wetland Management	0	0
				Combined classes metered	0	0
				Combined classes unmetered	0	0
				Sub-total	0	0
	SS10	SA Non-prescribed areas	SA	Regulated	–	–
				unregulated	–	–
				Sub-total	–	–
SW6 Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges	SS12	Marne Saunders	SA	Regulated	–	–
				unregulated	–	–
				Sub-total	–	–
Sub-total South Australia					0	0
Total for the region					6,999,878	6,780,337

– = Data not available

Queensland

In Queensland, the resource operation plans (ROPs) distinguish between 'high and medium priority of supplemented water allocation'. The water audit monitoring (WAM) data are the data source for the 2012 Account and only distinguishes between 'supplemented' and 'unsupplemented' entitlements. Both urban and non-urban entitlements are included within the supplemented entitlement class. Supplemented urban and supplemented non-urban volumes on allocations, diversions and other attributes were received together and it was not possible to separate out these two types of entitlements. Therefore, this line item includes remaining allocation volumes for both urban (if any, normally forfeited) and non-urban supplemented entitlements.    

Carry-over did not apply in the water resources planning (WRP) areas within Queensland in the 2011–12 except in St George (Condamine–Balonne sustainable diversion limit [SDL] area), Border Rivers and Macintyre Brook (Queensland Border Rivers SDL area) water supply schemes which are continuous share schemes.

The water supply system associated with Beardmore storage in Condamine–Balonne SDL area is predominantly a capacity share scheme and doesn't have an annual announced allocation. Announced allocation is calculated on use plus available water remaining at the end of the water year. Therefore, carry-over in this system does not relate to bringing forward unused allocation.  Rather, it provides for the resource cap to be increased in the current year dependent on water use in the previous year.

For the Queensland Border Rivers SDL area, allocation announcement includes both the allocation announcement during the year and the remaining water available at the end of the previous year. No information was available to separate the water available at the end of the previous year from the allocation announced during the year. 

 

New South Wales

Allocations remaining for several stock and domestic entitlements in Macquarie–Castlereagh, Lachlan and New South Wales Murray SDL areas, and conveyance entitlements in New South Wales Murray SDL area were negative volumes. This could be due to:

• overdraft of surface water allocation (advance drawing)
• overuse breach of licence condition
• an accounting/licensing anomalies arising as a result of (a) some entitlement holders' licence accounts were not updated to accommodate late transactions at the time of collecting data for this line item, and  (b) the entitlement holder holds many licences but the accounting was on one licence only (the anomalies continue until consolidating licences and fixing in the database occurs).

New South Wales carry-over volumes provided in this line item include environmental water allocation remaining volumes.

 

Victoria

All the allocation remaining as at 30 June 2012 was eligible for carry-over. In the Goulburn, Murray and Campaspe systems if the total volume of carry-over is greater than the sum of the high- and low-reliability water shares, then this excess is placed in a spillable water account (SWA). From the start of the 2011–12 year, the SWA water only becomes available when the resource manager declares there is a low risk of spilling.  All other carry-over is available for use immediately.

In Victoria, once an allocation is made to an allocation account it no longer has the characteristic of being either high or low reliability. Therefore, all allocation remaining volumes were reported as combined high and low reliability water share.

 Victorian carry-over volumes provided in this line item include environmental water allocation remaining volumes (see the following table).

 

Surface water allocation remaining details – Victoria

 

Surface water allocation remaining details – Victoria

Sustainable diversion limit area	Carry-over from the 2010–11 year (ML)	Environmental carry-over volume included in the carry-over from the 2010–11 year (ML)	Estimated carry-over to the 2012–13 year	Environmental carry-over volume included in the estimated carry-over to the 2012–13 year
Ovens	0	0	0	0
Broken	10,067	0	9,753	0
Goulburn	836,107	94,437	759,258	43,747
Campaspe	212,682	7,448	198,978	0
Loddon	180,100	0	188,245	2,000
Vic. Murray	1,625,117	237,924	1,467,636	50,244
Wimmera–Mallee	0	0	0	0
All	2,864,073	339,809	2,623,870	95,991

Victorian carry-over volumes provided in this line item also include any carry-over volumes for urban systems.  Reliable information distinguishing urban carry-over volumes was not available.

South Australia

No carry-over was permitted for South Australian Murray at the end of the 2011–12 year.

(1) New South Wales Office of Water's Water Accounting section: New South Wales data; and (2) Murray–Darling Basin Authority: WAM data received from Queensland (4 February 2013), South Australia (15 March 2013) and Victoria (21 March 2013). WAM data are stored in the Murray–Darling Basin Authority HYDRO database.

Bureau of Meteorology (the Bureau).

Water sharing plans, water resource plans and the water legislation of each state specify:

• the classes of licences that are permitted to carry forward any unused volumes
• rules attached to the volume that may be carried forward.

Allocation remaining (carry-over) volumes and allocation diversion (overdraw) of surface water allocation remaining were as calculated by the States.

• Uncertainty reported by New South Wales Office of Water accounts for possible errors in quantification of diversions and data handling processes.
• Only New South Wales and Queensland carry-over data is shown by a specific security class. This reflects the carry-over rules in the water resource plans.
• The line item value was an over-estimation as a result of including Victorian urban carry-over volumes.
• Information provided in this line item may have been based on Cap valleys in the HYDRO database which may not align perfectly with SDL areas.

• The uncertainty value for the New South Wales data provided in this line item is +/–10%.
• For the other data provided in this line item, the uncertainty estimate was not quantified.

 

Availability of updated information resulted in the restatement of the 2010–11 year volume. The respective volumes associated with the change are detailed in the following table.

 

Restatement of comparative year information made for the line item 5.1 Surface water allocation remaining

Segment	Volume at 30 June 2011 reported in the 2012 Account (ML)	Volume at 30 June 2011 reported in the 2011 Account (ML)	Difference due to availability of updated information (ML)
Northern Basin	1,341,685	1,341,311	374
Southern Basin	5,438,652	5,168,727	269,925
Whole region	6,780,337	6,510,038	270,299

Values reported in the 2011 Account were updated due to the following reasons:

• Values for several entitlement classes were updated for New South Wales and Victorian SDL areas. These updates were based on reconciling accounting/licensing anomalies in entitlement holder licence accounts.