Canberra: Water access and use
Approximately 90% of the region's surface water entitlements are for urban water supply, primarily for residential use. Total water use increased during the year, which reflects the poor rainfall across the region for the majority of the year.
Water rights, entitlements, allocations and restrictions
Introduction
This note provides information about the water access rights granted by jurisdictions to the users of the region's water resources and the associated allocation announcements and abstractions.
The 2016 Account acknowledges that the legislative water resource management frameworks relating to Australian water rights vary greatly across jurisdictions, sometimes making comparisons difficult. To facilitate meaningful comparisons between the water accounting reports included in the 2016 Account, the Bureau of Meteorology has developed and applied an accounting concept to classify and report water entitlements within a water asset/water liability framework.
According to that framework, water rights for the Canberra region for the 2015–16 year have been classified as shown below.
Surface water rights
Surface water rights in the Canberra region during the 2015–16 year refer to surface water supply for:
- urban water system—71,000 ML
- individual users: non-allocated—3,615 ML
- individual users: allocated—1,832 ML
- other statutory rights—297 ML.
Surface water rights for the urban water system relate to licences to divert water from storages to the Canberra region's urban water supply system. Surface water allocations for individual users and the urban water system are equal to 100% of the water access entitlement.
The volume of surface water entitlements, corresponding allocations, and diversions for the 2015–16 year compared with the previous four years are shown in Figure S12. The percentage shows the ratio of diversion to the water access entitlement.
Figure S12 Surface water access entitlements, allocations and diversions in the Canberra region for the years ending 30 June, from 2012–2016
Surface water allocations for individual users and the urban water system during the 2015–16 year remained unchanged (Figure S12). However, actual diversions to individual users and the urban water system increased from the previous year, which could be attributed to the below average rainfall for most of the year that increased users' reliance on water supplied directly from surface water.
The water supply licences for allocated diversions for individual users are divided into licence entitlement categories (Figure S13).
Figure S13 Surface water allocation to individual users for each licence purpose for the 2015–16 year
Groundwater rights
Groundwater rights in the Canberra region during the 2015–16 year refer to groundwater supply for:
- individual users: non-allocated—1,604 ML
- individual users: allocated—851 ML
- other statutory rights—435 ML
In the Canberra region, groundwater allocations for individual users are equal to 100% of the water access entitlement.
The volumes for groundwater entitlements, corresponding water allocations, and extractions for the 2015–16 year compared with the previous four years are shown in Figure S14. The percentage shows the ratio of extraction to the water access entitlement.
Figure S14 Groundwater access entitlements, allocations and extractions in the Canberra region for the years ending 30 June, from 2012–2016
Figure S14 shows that groundwater entitlements for non-allocated extractions to individual users during the 2015–16 year were similar to the previous year. However, the actual extractions to individual users increased by more than 20% from the previous year, which could be attributed to the below average rainfall that occurred for most of the year that increased users' reliance on water supplied directly from groundwater.
The water supply licences for allocated extractions for individual users are divided into licence entitlement categories (Figure S15).
Figure S15 Groundwater allocation to individual users for each licence purpose for the 2015–16 year
Combined surface water and groundwater rights
In the ACT, there are provisions to abstract water from either surface water or groundwater as specified in the entitlement category 'combined surface water and groundwater rights'. For the 2015–16 year, the entitled volume was 2,412 ML.
Water restrictions
Icon Water introduced 'Permanent Water Conservation Measures' for potable water use in November 2010 that are mandatory and enforceable. Nonpotable sources are not restricted. These rules govern how water can be used on gardens and lawns, during pool filling, car washing, and cleaning. For more information, refer to the Bureau of Meteorology's Water Restrictions website.
Water market activity
Surface water and groundwater entitlement trades reported in the Canberra region during the 2015–16 year were 3 ML and 20 ML respectively.
Water use
Economic benefit
Water resources within the Canberra region are used for urban consumption, agriculture, and industries. For a summary of the water volumes allocated for various economic purposes within the region including the actual volumes abstracted, refer to Surface water rights and Groundwater rights above.
Environmental benefit
Introduction
Information on legislative, administrative, and governing arrangements of environmental water in the Canberra region is available in the Environmental water management section of the 'Region description'.
The ACT Government's Environment Planning Directorate identifies and manages water for ecosystems under the Water Resources Act 2007 (ACT). The 2013 Environmental Flow Guidelines is a statutory instrument that is used to determine allowable volumes when issuing licences to take water. These guidelines are consistent with the Territory Plan 2008 and use the precautionary principle in accordance with the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment (1992).
Water for environmental benefit in the region is provided as 'planned partly regulated surface water'. The dominant feature of environmental water management in this scenario is the ability to control or influence flow by operational releases from storage.
Environmental water legislation
Environmental water provisions are defined for different aquatic ecosystems in the Canberra region. These provisions are outlined in the 2013 Environmental Flow Guidelines.
The guidelines recognise that there have been substantial changes to flow regimes due to changes in land use in parts of the region. As a result, aquatic ecosystems have been classified into four broad types:
- Natural: ecosystems that remain in a relatively pristine condition
- Water supply: ecosystems in catchments that are used for water supply
- Modified: ecosystems modified by land use or by changes to the flow regime
- Created: ecosystems in water bodies developed as a result of urbanisation.
The key management goals and ecological objectives for each of these aquatic ecosystems are outlined in Chapters 2 and 4, respectively, of the guidelines.
Environmental water provisions
Environmental water provisions in the Canberra region include the protection of the following components of the flow regime:
- baseflow
- small floods (riffle maintenance flows)
- larger floods (pool or channel maintenance flows)
- special purpose flows
- impoundment drawdown level.
All of these components of the flow regime are important for maintaining aquatic ecosystems in the region.
For each component of the flow regime, environmental flow requirements have been established to maintain each of the four types of aquatic ecosystems defined above. These flow requirements are described in Chapter 5 of the 2013 Environmental Flow Guidelines and are outlined for specific river reaches within the region.
The required environmental flows are maintained through a combination of strategic water releases or spills from storages and by restricting the volume of water that can be abstracted from a catchment (Table S8).
Environmental water outcomes
Information on monitoring environmental water outcomes is provided in Chapter 6 of the 2013 Environmental Flow Guidelines. The following water releases were made from the reservoirs during the 2015–16 year for environmental purposes including consumption, fish spawning and control of dam spillings.
| Reservoir | Required volume (ML) | Released volume (ML) |
| Bendora Reservoir | 17,737 | 25,049 |
| Corin Reservoir | 13,828 | 47,179 |
| Cotter Reservoir | 14,400 | 35,078 |
| Googong Reservoir | 4,200 | 74,740 |
| Total | 50,165 | 182,046 |