South East Queensland
32.1 Other statutory surface water rights

The volumetric value for the line item at the end of the 2012–13 year was 3,628 ML. This line item consists of diversions based on riparian water authorisations (RWAs).

The following table shows the breakdown of estimated diversions for RWAs in each water resource plan (WRP) area within the South East Queensland (SEQ) region.

A riparian right in Queensland is the riparian landholder's access to stock and domestic water via RWAs. The basic right (also known as a 'riparian right'), as stipulated in the Queensland Water Act 2000, is the right of an owner of land adjoining a watercourse, lake, or spring to divert from that water source for stock or domestic purposes. This riparian stock and domestic access is separate from an entitlement.

A riparian water acknowledgement must be submitted to the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM) to access this right to divert water. DNRM then provides the RWA to the applicant. RWAs are not metered in the SEQ region.

Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM): Water Management System database.

DNRM.

An estimate has been made of the RWAs within the SEQ region. The total number of properties with RWAs was multiplied by an assumed diversion rate of 2 ML per property to obtain an estimate of the volume abstracted.

The assumed diversion rate of 2 ML per property may not be appropriate for all users and adds uncertainty to the estimated value. The number of RWAs reported in the 2013 Account was assumed to be the same as the 2012 Account.

The uncertainty estimate was not quantified.