Welcome to the Bureau of Meteorology’s National Water Account for 2015, where we’ll find out how much water is available across Australia, where it is, and how it’s being used. 


We look at ten key regions around the country, representing most of Australia’s population and around 70 to 80 per cent of Australia’s water use.
[Map of Australia showing National water Account regions: Adelaide, Burdekin, Canberra, Daly, Melbourne, Murray–Darling Basin, Ord, Perth, South East Queensland and Sydney]
[Presenter: Dene Moliere, Senior water accountant]

The 2015 Account covers a one year period from the 1st of July 2014 to 30th of June 2015. 

During that time we saw relatively dry conditions, particularly across the southern and north eastern parts of the country. 


For many regions, this was the third consecutive year of below average rainfall.


The impact was greatest in the Burdekin region, where storage volumes decreased from 99% to 73% full during the year; and in the Murray–Darling Basin, where storage volumes dropped from 57% to 42% full. 
 

In 2012, Murray–Darling Basin storages were more than 92% full and have been steadily dropping since then.


In the Canberra, South East Queensland and Sydney regions, storage volumes increased slightly due to wetter conditions along the east coast.
[Graphs showing: Canberra region storages were at 77% of capacity at the end of 2013–14 and increased slightly to 80% by the end of 2014–15; Sydney region storages were at 81%, increasing to 93%; and South East Queensland storages were at 89%, increasing to 95% over the same period.]


National water use dropped by 9% compared to the previous year. This is mainly due to decreased use in the Murray–Darling Basin, reflecting drier conditions and low water storages across the region. 


Surface water remained the largest source of water across Australia, making up 83% of all water used. 
[Graph showing: Groundwater makes up a further 16%, with the remainder being desalinated water.]

However, in the Daly and Perth regions, surface water is less reliable and groundwater makes up more than two thirds of their water supply.
[Graphs showing breakdown of water sources: Daly region sources 74% of water from groundwater and 26% from surface water. Perth region sources 67% from groundwater, 17% desalinated water and 16% surface water, with the remainder coming from inter-region transfers.]


Around three quarters of Australia’s water supply was for commercial and private users, mainly related to agriculture. 15% of the country’s water was for town supply; and 10% was used to support the health of rivers, wetlands and floodplains.


In our capital cities, good surface water availability meant the use of alternative water sources, such as desalinated water, dropped during the year. However, Perth continued to rely on desalinated water for more than 40% of urban supply. 
[Graph showing: Water for urban areas of Perth region is sourced from groundwater (42%), desalinated water (41%), surface water (16%) and inter-region water transfers (1%).] 


Desalinated water production in Perth has increased over the last four years; ensuring water security is less reliant on rainfall.


In summary, a third consecutive year of dry conditions across much of Australia meant storage volumes continued to decrease across the country, particularly in the agricultural regions. In the Murray–Darling Basin, water use decreased in line with the reduced water availability, but reserves were in place for the following year.


You can find more details on each of the ten regions on our website at bom.gov.au/water/nwa


For the Bureau of Meteorology I’m Dene Moliere.