South East Queensland
Administration

The Water Act (Qld) (the Water Act 2000) provides the authority for the administration of basic water rights and water entitlements (interim allocations, water licences and water allocations) in Queensland. The Water Act is supported by the Water Regulation 2002  (the Water Regulation) which provides details on the procedures and fees associated with water access entitlements and trading.

Under section 38 of the Water Act, the relevant minister may prepare a water resource plan (WRP) for any part of Queensland to advance the sustainable management of water. WRPs may be prepared for but are not limited to the purposes listed under section 38(3) of the Water Act.

There are WRPs in place to manage water across the entire South East Queensland region.

The Water Act vests all rights to the use, flow and control of water in the State of Queensland.

The Water Act legislation, as discussed in Surface water legislation also applies to groundwater. In the Water Act, groundwater is referred to as underground water.

A number of water management instruments, including water resource plans (WRPs), are used in the region. These are described in Table A1.

The South East Queensland region contains three water management areas: Gold Coast, Logan Basin and Moreton. The former Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) had finalised water resource plans and resource operations plans for each of these three areas.

Within each WRP area, there is a number of water supply schemes (WSSs), as shown in Figure A1, made up of connected water supply infrastructure.

During the 2011–12 year DERM monitored the implementation of WRPs throughout the South East Queensland region.  This function was transferred to the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines from 30 March 2012. A resource operations plan (ROP) is used to implement a WRP in specified areas. A resource operations licence (ROL)or interim resource operations licence (IROL) provides a licence under which water supply infrastructure can be operated.

• detail how the Queensland Government aims to meet the catchments' social, economic and environmental needs
• outline environmental flow objectives specific to the plan area
• consider environmental values and water quality objectives
• describe water allocation security objectives.

• specify information for each regional water supply system
• detail how to operationally meet the WRP's environmental flow objectives and water allocation security objectives
• describe how the water resources will be managed day to day to meet these needs
• outline WSS licence holder flow management, infrastructure operating conditions, water sharing, monitoring and trading rules.

• provide detail of the licence holder and the ROP to which the licence relates
• may stipulate the water infrastructure, such as dams and weirs, covered by the licence
• specify any conditions that the holder of the licence must comply with, including operating arrangements and water supply requirements.

Seqwater is the resource operations licence holder for all water supply schemes in the South East Queensland region, with the exception of the Cressbrook Creek WSS, which is held by Toowoomba Regional Council.

• provide detail of the licence holder
• may stipulate the water infrastructure, such as dams and weirs, covered by the licence
• specify any conditions that the holder of the licence must comply with, including operating arrangements and water supply requirements
• are granted in relation to infrastructure in an area where a ROP has not been approved or the infrastructure has not yet been included in a ROP.
• WSSs with IROLs located within the Moreton WRP area are to be included within the Moreton ROP in the future, and the IROLs are then converted to ROLs.

The water management plans and WSSs in the SEQ region during the 2011–12 year are detailed in Table A1.

Areas not covered by the WSSs are managed as Queensland unsupplemented water rights (which, for national consistency, in the 2012  Account are referred to as 'unregulated water rights') under the Water Act, WRPs and ROPs.

Table A1 Water management plans in the South East Queensland region during the 2011–12 year

Water resource plan	Resource operations plan	Water supply scheme and Resource operations licence  / Interim resource operations licence
Gold Coast WRP 2006	Gold Coast ROP 2010	Nerang WSS ROL (Seqwater)
Logan Basin WRP 2007	Logan Basin ROP 2009	Logan River WSS ROL (Seqwater)
Moreton WRP 2007	Moreton ROP 2009	Central Brisbane River and Stanley WSS ROL (Seqwater)
		Cressbrook Creek WSS ROL
		Pine Valleys WSS ROL (Seqwater)
		Central Lockyer WSS IROL (Seqwater)1
		Lower Lockyer WSS IROL (Seqwater)2
		Warrill Valley WSS IROL (Seqwater)3

Notes:

^1-3 IROLs are not administered under a ROP.

Figure A1 Map of water supply schemes in the South East Queensland region


Unallocated water (water in the consumptive pool not allocated to licence holders or needed for losses) may be held as a general, strategic or town water supply reserve. Unallocated water in a WRP area, if any, is identified in the WRP and a process for dealing with unallocated water is included in the ROP.

The following groundwater management areas exist within the South East Queensland region:

• Cressbrook Creek Alluvial
• Lockyer Valley
• Warrill Bremer Alluvial
• Watercourse Buffer Zone.

The Water Act covers water for the environment. WRPs are produced in accordance with the Water Act and must establish environmental flow objectives, ecological outcomes and consider environmental values listed in the Environmental (Water) Protection Policy 2009.

 

 

The environmental flow objectives in a WRP area are met through rules governing storage releases and limiting abstractions. Its aim is to retain various temporal flow characteristics at different nodes along rivers. Environmental top-up releases from storages are required to ensure that environmental flow objectives are met. The volume required for release will vary depending upon the environmental flow objectives and flow conditions. Various performance indicators are used for assessing environmental flow objectives as described in the 'Environmental notes'.

More details on specific environmental flow provisions can be found in the Moreton WRP 2007, Logan Basin WRP 2007 and Gold Coast WRP 2006

From 1 July 2008 to date, the water industry in the South East Queensland (SEQ) region underwent significant reform. During this period, the number of water management and distribution entities was reduced from 21 to 6, and the role of the South East Queensland Water Grid Manager was created. Organisations responsible for water management in the SEQ region is shown in Table A2.

The 2012 Account reports on the status of water management during the 2011–12 year. Organisational changes that occurred prior to or after the 2011–12 year are reported in the Significant water events section of the account.

Table A2 Organisations responsible for water management in the South East Queensland region 

Organisation	Role	Major storages operated within the region
Department of Environment and Resource Management Department of Natural Resources and Mines Department of Energy and Water Supply	The Department of Environment and Resource management ceased operating in water policy, planning, management, entitlement administration and water service provider regulation is now undertaken by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines and/or the Queensland Department of Energy and Water Supply.	None
South East Queensland Water Grid Manager, merged with Seqwater on 1 January 2013	Urban utility: wholesale Holds urban entitlements with the region Manages South East Queensland water grid Purchases services to store, treat, produce and transport bulk water Sells treated water to local councils, power stations and other businesses	None
Seqwater	Surface water storage manager Bulk water supplier Manage the majority of WSSs in the South East Queensland region Resource Operations Licence (ROL) and Interim Resource Operations Licence (IROL) holder	Hinze
		Bromelton Off-Stream Storage
		Cedar Grove Weir
		Enoggera
		Gold Creek
		Atkinson
		Clarendon
		Bill Gunn
		Lake Kurwongbah
		Lake Manchester
		Lake Maroon
		Lake Moogerah
		North Pine
		Somerset
		Wivenhoe
		Little Nerang
		Mount Crosby Weir
		Leslie Harrison
		Wyaralong
LinkWater, merged with Seqwater on 1 January 2013	Infrastructure operator Transports through the SEQ Water Grid	None
Queensland Water Directorate (Qldwater)	Central advisory and advocacy body within Queensland's urban water industry working with members to provide safe, secure and sustainable water services to Queensland communities	None
Allconnex1	Formerly comprised water businesses from Redland, Gold Coast and Logan city councils and became a new water and wastewater business on 1 July 2010. It was, however, disestablished on 17 February 2012	None
WaterSecure, merged with Seqwater on 1 July 2011	Infrastructure operator Supplies water from the Gold Coast Desalination Plan Supplies water from the Western Corridor Recycled Water Project	None
Queensland Water Commission	Formerly provided independent policy advice to the Government on South East Queensland regional water security, demand and supply options but ceased operations from 1 January 2013. Its policy functions moved to the Department of Energy and Water Supply (DEWS) and its planning and regulatory functions (including setting water restrictions) are now the responsibility of the new bulk water supply authority, Seqwater, and the South East Queensland council water businesses (distributor–retailers).	None
Tarong Energy2	Power generator	Splityard Creek
Queensland Urban Utilities	Urban utility: retail	None
Unitywater	Urban utility: retail	None
Toowoomba Regional Council	Urban utility: retail Surface water store manager Manages Cressbrook Creek WSS Cressbrook Creek ROL holder	Cressbrook Creek
		Perseverance

Notes:

¹ Allconnex Water ceased existing in February 2012. Allconnex ceased to operate on 30 June; the Gold Coast City Council, Logan City Council and Redland City Council took over the functions of Allconnex Water from 1 July 2012.

² The assets of Tarong Energy were split between Stanwell Corporation and CS Energy on 1 July 2011. Tarong Energy became a subsidiary of Stanwell Corporation.

Other councils, of which part of their administrative area lies within the South East Queensland region, include the Sunshine Coast Regional Council and South Burnett Regional Council.

The surface water and groundwater licensing authority in South East Queensland during the 2010–11 year was the DERM. It was responsible for surface water policy planning, management and entitlement administration. Since 30 March 2012, this role has been performed by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines and/or the Queensland Department of Energy and Water Supply.

Seqwater is the ROL holder for all but one of the WSSs in the South East Queensland region. Toowoomba Regional Council is the ROL holder for the Cressbrook Creek Water Supply Scheme. ROL holders manage the surface water infrastructure associated with the WSS, including reservoirs, dams and weirs within the scheme in accordance with the Resource Operations Plan. ROL holders also administer the announced allocations within the WSS, calculating the announced allocation using the methodology stipulated in the Resource Operations Plan. ROL holders monitor water levels at various points within the WSS to ensure compliance with the ROP requirements. In addition to managing surface water storages within WSS, Seqwater also manages a number of reservoirs, dams and weirs on watercourses outside of WSS, mainly for the purpose of supplying the South East Queensland with water from their unsupplemented licences for urban use.

The South East Queensland Water Grid Manager was the former Queensland government–owned statutory body that was responsible for managing the strategic operation of the southeast Queensland water supply network through the 2011-12 water accounting year, and later merged with Seqwater in January 2013. It owned the urban water entitlements in South East Queensland and was responsible for managing the water grid. During the 2011–12 year it managed the delivery of bulk water to the five urban retailers: Gold Coast City Council, Logan City Council, Redland City Council, Queensland Urban Utilities and Unitywater, and purified recycled water to Tarong and Swanbank power stations.

Seqwater provides bulk water storage and treatment services to the South East Queensland water grid and manages WSSs, surface water storages and borefields across the South East Queensland region. Seqwater is the ROL holder for all but one of the WSS in the SEQ region. During the 2011–12 year Seqwater supplied water from the Gold Coast Desalination Plant and Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme. 

The Queensland bulk water transport authority, LinkWater, transports potable water from Seqwater treatment plants and surface water storages through bulk transmission pipelines for the SEQ Water Grid Manager to the distribution networks.

The South East Queensland Water (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) Act 2009 resulted in the formation of three distribution and retail organisations in South East Queensland on 1 July 2010: Allconnex Water (later disestablished), Queensland Urban Utilities and Unitywater, which have provided distribution and retail of potable water to customers of the South East Queensland water grid since this date. These organisations also provide wastewater collection and treatment services for the Brisbane, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Logan, Moreton Bay, Redlands, Scenic Rim, Somerset and Sunshine Coast areas. Figure A2 shows the service areas for the Queensland urban utilities, Unitywater and the city councils.

Figure A2 Map of service areas in the South East Queensland region


Some areas of the South East Coast region not connected to the water grid and are instead still provided with water and wastewater services by their local councils, such as Toowoomba and South Burnett regional councils. Toowoomba Regional Council is also the holder of the ROL for the Cressbrook Creek WSS.