Canberra: Water access and use
About 96% of the region's water allocations were for the urban system, primarily for residential use. Total water use was similar to the previous year reflecting the similar surface water availability conditions in the region to last year.
For further information on water rights and water use within the Canberra region during the year scroll down this page or click on the links below:
Water rights, entitlements, allocations and restrictions
Surface water rights
Figure S12 Surface water allocations and diversions in the Canberra region for the years ending 30 June, from 2012–2017
- Surface water allocations for individual users and the urban system were the same as last year.
- Diversions to individual users and the urban water system were similar to the previous year, which reflects the similar surface water availability conditions in the region to last year.
Figure S13 Surface water allocation to individual users for each licence purpose for the 2016–17 year
- 3% of the surface water allocated is for individual users. These licences primarily relate to water diversions for domestic consumption and commercial activities under the ‘unregulated river’ entitlement class.
Groundwater rights
Figure S14 Groundwater access entitlements, allocations and extractions in the Canberra region for the years ending 30 June, from 2012–2017
- Groundwater allocations for individual users remained the same as previous years.
- Actual extractions for individual users were similar to last year, which reflects the similar water availability conditions in the region to last year.
Figure S15 Groundwater allocation to individual users for each licence purpose for the 2016–17 year
- 100% of the total groundwater allocated was for individual users. These licences primarily relate to water extractions for irrigation purposes under the ‘aquifer’ entitlement class.
Combined surface water and groundwater rights
- In the Canberra region, there are provisions to abstract water from either surface water or groundwater resources as specified in the entitlement category 'combined surface water and groundwater rights'.
- The combined surface water and groundwater entitlement 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. Non-potable 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 2016–17 year were 0 ML and 9 ML respectively.
Water use
Economic benefit
- 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.
Cultural benefit
- The Ngunnawal people are the Traditional Custodians of the Canberra region. Neighbouring regions include the Ngarigo, Wolgalu, Gundungurra, Yuin and WIradjuri people.
- River corridors play an important role in travel routes, and provide varied flora and fauna which are readily available food sources. Access to rivers is important in ensuring knowledge of Country, dreaming and future land management is passed down to younger generations.
- One of the actions in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government's Water Strategy 2014-44 is to "Ensure that indigenous and other cultural values are recognised in managing water planning and use", addressing the strategic objective to 'engage the community on understanding and contributing to a more sustainable city.'
- For further information refer to Aboriginal Cultural Heritage of the ACT- Ngunnawal Country (Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate (ACT) 2010) and ACT Water Strategy 2014-44: Striking the Balance (Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate (ACT) 2014).
Environmental benefit
Environmental water provisions
- Environmental flow requirements are defined for aquatic ecosystem categories and specific river reaches in Chapter 5 of the 2013 Environmental Flow Guidelines.
- Data for the Cotter River were available at the time of publication and are presented here as an example of the region's environmental flow provisions.
Figure S16 Example environmental water provisions for the Cotter River below Corin Dam
- 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 diverted from a catchment.
- The baseflow requirement is specified on a monthly basis, with fortnightly variations in the rate of release preferred compared to constant discharge for the month.
- Drawdown limits for impoundments, and protection of larger, less frequent 'channel maintenance' flows are also a part of the environmental water provisions, but are not shown on the figure above.
Environmental water outcomes
Figure S17 Example outcome: flow in the Cotter River compared with the required flow regime during the 2016–17 year
- Flows in the Cotter River below Corin Dam exceeded the monthly baseflow requirements and bi-monthly riffle maintenance requirements, and were very close to meeting the annual pool maintenance requirements.
| Reservoir | Required volume (ML) | Released volume (ML) |
| Bendora Reservoir | 20,352 | 51,041 |
| Corin Reservoir | 14,083 | 62,306 |
| Cotter Reservoir | 13,165 | 97,997 |
| Googong Reservoir | 4,171 | 62,440 |
| Total | 51,771 | 273,784 |
- Environmental flow releases totalling 273,784 ML were made from four reservoirs in the region over the year, which exceeded the required volume. Spills are included in volumes reported as environmental releases, and the exceedence in required release can be attributed to very wet periods in 2016-17 that resulted in dams overflowing.