Burdekin: Governance
Accountability statement
1. This water accounting report has been prepared and presented in accordance with the Australian Water Accounting Standard 1, with the following exceptions:
No Assurance Statement was prepared because the standard for, and practice of, assurance of water accounting reports are currently not available.
Notes on the quantification approaches and levels of uncertainty are incomplete because the knowledge base is often inadequate.
No information is disclosed about material events that occurred after 30 June 2017, such as extreme precipitation and significant water rights purchases. This information is publicly available elsewhere.
Asset changes for water stores (surface water and groundwater) have been included in the Statement of Changes in Water Assets and Water Liabilities, without a corresponding water store asset volume being included in the Statement of Water Assets and Water Liabilities for the following line items:
– Lakes and wetlands
– Underlying aquifers
This is because water store flows and levels could be quantified but storage volumes for these items could not.
2. The report has been compiled from the best data available, as detailed in the water accounting statement notes, in the time available to compile it from a number of sources. The Bureau of Meteorology takes a nationally-consistent approach to report preparation and presentation, but for a few line items there may be local data of higher quality that were not used.
3. All significant and specific interpretations of the Australian Water Accounting Standard 1 for the purpose of the preparation of this report are explained in the 'Water accounting policies' note. The Bureau of Meteorology is responsible for these interpretations.
Robert Argent
General Manager, Water
Bureau of Meteorology
13 December 2017
Water accounting policies
Introduction
The information presented in the Burdekin region water accounting report is based on collaboration between the Bureau and the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM).
The report has been prepared using an accrual basis of water accounting, with the exception of the physical water flow information. The water attribute being quantified is volume, and the unit of account is megalitres (ML). Where a reported volume is negative, it is shown in brackets. The applicable reporting period is from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017.
Transactions between water assets and water liabilities within the region (e.g., between the surface water store and the groundwater store) are not reported in the water accounting statements because they do not affect the region's total water assets and water liabilities.
Recognition of water assets and water liabilities
Only water that is held or managed by the State licensing authority or the urban utilities and from which a future probable benefit can be derived by stakeholders of the region is defined as a water asset.
Water liabilities are constituted by present commitments to supply water, the discharge of which is expected to result in a probable decrease of the region's water assets or a probable increase in another water commitment to supply water.
Provided its volume can be quantified in a way that is complete, neutral, and free from material error, the volume of the water asset or water liability is recognised in the Statement of Water Assets and Water Liabilities.
Water held in storages that has already been abstracted from the entitlement system is deemed not to be part of the region (regardless of the storage's size or connection to the system). This is because the attendant water right has already been exercised.
Recognition of changes in water assets and water liabilities
The increases and decreases to the reported water assets and water liabilities consist of changes that can be quantified in a way that is complete, neutral, and free from material error. These volumes are presented in the Statement of Changes in Water Assets and Water Liabilities and the Statement of Water Flows.
Precipitation and evaporation are recognised only in relation to the surfaces of open storage volumes. They do not represent all precipitation, evaporation and evapotranspiration within the region (notably, these processes occurring from the landscape are not captured).
That portion of runoff that flows into the surface water store (storages and rivers) is quantified and recognised in the Statement of Changes in Water Assets and Water Liabilities. This runoff includes precipitation captured in the catchment less evaporation and infiltration and is recorded as runoff to surface water.
Allocation announcements on regulated (supplemented) entitlements have been recognised as an increase in water liabilities. Note that the definitions of regulated or unregulated entitlements for the purpose of the National Water Account may be different to the meaning applied by the jurisdiction (refer to 'Glossary'). Please refer to the Water rights, entitlements, allocations and restrictions note for more information on allocations.
Water assets and water liabilities that fail the recognition criteria
The volumes of several water assets identified in the Burdekin region were not reported in the water accounting statements but replaced by dashes ('–') as they 'failed the recognition criteria' specified in the Australian Water Accounting Standard 1, because:
they could not be quantified in a way that is complete, neutral and free from material error; and/or
they were unlikely to provide a future benefit to the region or the region's stakeholders.
Water assets that failed the recognition criteria include rivers, lakes and wetlands (see Water assets note in 'Supporting information')
Restatement of comparative year information
In accordance with the Australian Water Accounting Standard 1, comparative year volumes must be restated in the statements if there is a prior period error or a change in item presentation. Comparative year volumes are not required to be restated if there is a change in scope or methodology or subsequent data availability for the quantification of an item.
The following comparative year volumes in the water accounting statements were restated from the 2016 Account due to prior period errors:
These two restatements have been made as a result of an adjustment to the total runoff volume (Table N1)
| Revised 2016 volume in 2017 Account ML | Published volume in 2016 Account ML | |
| Surface water store | ||
| Runoff | 3,357,763 | 2,509,517 |
| Unaccounted-for difference | ||
| Unaccounted-for difference | 222,311 | 165,172 |
Reconciliations
Introduction
The following reconciliation tables verify:
- how the region’s closing water storage in the Statement of Water Flows reconciles to the total water assets reported in the Statement of Water Assets and Water Liabilities
- how the region’s change in water storage in the Statement of Water Flows reconciles to the change in net water assets reported in the Statement of Changes in Water Assets and Water Liabilities.
Closing water storage to total water assets
| 2017 ML | 2016 ML | |
| Closing water storages as presented in the Statement of Water Flows | 2,044,876 | 1,979,038 |
| Surface water | ||
| Storages | 1,941,577 | 1,871,324 |
| Unregulated river | 4821 | – |
| Regulated river | - | - |
| Lakes and wetlands | – | – |
| Groundwater | ||
| Water table aquifer | 98,478 | 107,714 |
| Underlying aquifers | – | – |
| Total water storage as presented in the Statement of Water Assets and Water Liabilities | 2,044,876 | 1,979,038 |
| add Other water assets | 0 | 0 |
| Total water assets | 2,044,876 | 1,979,038 |
Net change in water storage to the change in net water assets
| 2017 ML | 2016 ML | |
| Change in net water assets as presented in the Statement of Changes in Water Assets and Water Liabilities | 65,325 | 448,961 |
| adjustments for: | ||
| Change in non-physical water assets | 0 | 0 |
| Change in water liabilities | ||
| Surface water liability | ||
| Allocation remaining: individual users | 513 | (2,835) |
| Allocation remaining: urban system | 0 | 0 |
| Allocation remaining: irrigation scheme | 0 | (40,090) |
| Groundwater liability | ||
| Allocation remaining: individual users | 0 | 0 |
| Total change in water liabilities | 0 | 0 |
| Net change in water storage as presented in the Statement of Water Flows | 65,838 | 406,036 |