Melbourne
25.1 Unaccounted–for difference

In the Melbourne region, the unaccounted-for difference is the volume necessary to reconcile the opening water storage and closing water storage with the total water inflows and total water outflows reported in the water accounting statements. It is calculated according to the following table.

The unaccounted-for difference can also be calculated by summing the volumes necessary to reconcile (balance) the opening and closing storage with the water inflows and outflows of each of the separate water stores of the region, as shown in the following table.

Detail of the balancing items calculation is given in the following Water resources and systems notes:

• Surface water note (Table 4)
• Groundwater note (Table 8)
• Urban system note (Table 12).

The second table above shows that the unaccounted-for difference volume is mainly explained by the balancing item of the groundwater store and the surface water store.

The unaccounted-for difference for groundwater is estimated using a water balance approach and the considerably high unaccounted for volume can be attributed to a number of factors:

• The groundwater asset of the Melbourne region is based on the long-term groundwater volume available for extraction – the permissible consumptive volume (PCV). The PCV is essentially constant from year to year and is therefore insensitive to groundwater level fluctuations. In contrast, groundwater inflows and outflows consider the annual fluctuations in groundwater levels.
• The PCV is defined for water table and underlying aquifers of key groundwater management units (GMUs) only. The influence of the remaining groundwater areas in the Melbourne region is therefore not well represented.
• Several of the groundwater inflows and outflow volumes were modelled. In particular recharge from landscape represents the volume of water that could potentially reach the water table given the rainfall, land use, and soil type in the region. This modelled volume is not a direct measure of groundwater recharge as it does not take into consideration the time lag that occurs between the rainfall infiltrating into the soil and actually reaching the water table.

The balancing item for the surface water store is due to a combination of line items that were wholly or partly not quantified and due to errors and uncertainty associated with the quantification methods. In particular, in the quantification of rainfall runoff there is uncertainty in the meteorological inputs into the model and the model structure. Similarly, for river outflow to sea, there is uncertainty associated with the rating curves and the ungauged runoff which enters the sea.

In the 2012 a number of line item volumes from the 2010–11 year have been restated (refer to Water accounting policies for more information). As a consequence, the unaccounted-for difference for the 2010–11 year has changed.

Consequently, the volume has been restated from 865,788 (as reported in the 2011 Account) to 1,589,970 ML.