In our variable climate, as our population increases and industries change, competition for Australia’s precious water resources intensifies.
To ensure we have enough water for everyone, it is important to account for how water is managed across Australia.
We need to know how much water is available, where it is, and how it’s being used.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s National Water Account provides an annual picture of water availability. It plays a critical role in the planning and decision-making processes of governments and industry.
To create the account, the Bureau collects and analyses data from more than 40 organisations for nine key regions around Australia.
[Map of Australia showing nine regions covered by National Water Account: Perth, Ord, Daly, South East Queensland, Murray–Darling Basin, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide.]
Together, these regions are home to about 80% of Australia’s population and represent around 70 to 80% of Australia’s water use. 
Each regional report covers water availability, sources, trading, and use. 
The 2014 account covers a one year period, from 1st of July 2013 to 30th of June 2014. 
During that time we saw relatively dry conditions across much of Australia, particularly across the east. 
[Map of Australia showing rainfall deciles for 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014. Largely below average across Queensland, except in far north Queensland where rainfall was above average. Below-average rainfalls also occurred throughout northeastern New South Wales, northeastern South Australia and southeastern Northern Territory, as well as the west and southwest coastal areas of Western Australia. Above-average rainfall through northern and western Northern Territory, inland Western Australia and southern coastal areas of Australia.] 
Below average rainfall in most of the eastern regions led to a decrease in storage inflows, with the impact greatest in the Murray–Darling Basin region where storage volumes decreased from 69% to 57% during the year.
[Map of Australia highlighting Murray–Darling Basin region. Graph of water storage levels changing from 69% at 30 June 2013 to 57% at 30 June 2014.] 
The Adelaide, Perth and Ord regions fared better with near- to above-average rainfalls. Storage volumes in these regions increased during the year, particularly in the Ord region, where storages were 100% full.
[Map of Australia showing Adelaide, Perth and Ord regions. Graphs showing water storage levels increasing: Adelaide increased from 44% full to 62% by 30 June 2014; Perth increased from 24% to 31% full; Ord increased from 79% to 100% full.]
National water use dropped by 21% compared to the previous year. This is mainly due to a large decrease in water use in the Murray–Darling Basin, reflecting the low water storage and drier conditions across the region. All other regions, except for Adelaide, reported increased water use. 
[Graphic showing large decrease in water use for Murray–Darling Basin region; a decrease in water use in Adelaide; and increased water use in Canberra, Daly, Melbourne, Ord, Perth, South East Queensland; Sydney.]
While surface water remained the largest source of water used across Australia groundwater was also big a part of the picture.
Surface water accounted for 84% of all water used, while groundwater accounted for almost 15%. 
[Graph showing proportions of water sources across all nine National Water Account regions: surface water accounts for 84%; groundwater 15%; small segment (unlabelled, but approximately 1%) showing desalinated water.]
In the Daly and Perth regions, groundwater accounts for more than two-thirds of total water supply, as surface water is less reliable. 
[Graphs showing proportions of water sources for the Daly and Perth regions separately. Daly region: 76% of water sourced from groundwater; 24% sourced from surface water. Perth region: 67% of water sourced from groundwater; 17% surface water and 16% desalinated water.]
If we just look at urban areas, we see that alternative water sources, such as desalinated water, are used to meet 10% of current urban demand around the country. Adelaide and Perth rely on desalinated water for almost 40% of urban supply. Both regions have increased desalinated water production over the last three years, which is helping to conserve surface water stores and ensure water security is not reliant on rainfall into the future.
[Graphs showing proportions of urban water sources for Adelaide and Perth regions in 2103–14. Adelaide’s urban supply came from: 38% desalinated water; 42% surface water; 20% inter-region water. Perth’s urban supply came from: 39% desalinated water; 43% groundwater; 17% surface water and 1% inter-region water.]
So in summary, a second consecutive year of dry conditions across much of Australia has meant inflows to storages were down in 2013–14. In the Murray–Darling Basin, water allocations and water use decreased in line with the reduced water availability, but storage levels leave reserves for next year.
You can find more details on each of the nine regions on our website at bom.gov.au/water/nwa.
For the Bureau of Meteorology I’m Dene Moliere.