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National Water Account 2017

Fitzroy: Statement details

  • Heavy rainfall in late-March 2017 associated with ex-tropical cyclone Debbie contributed to very high streamflows in some of the region's primary rivers during March–April.
  • End of year storage volume increased to 56% full compared to 52% at the start of the year.

 


 

For further information on the regions water accounting statements scroll down this page or click on the links below:

 

 

Water assets

Surface water assets

  • Surface water asset volumes in the region at 30 June 2017 were 1,093,119 ML, more than 87% of which is water held in storages. The remaining 13% is water held in rivers.

 

Figure S1 Percentage-full volume on 30 June 2017 for each storage and total volumes for the 2016–17 year (inset). 

Figure S1 Percentage-full volume on 30 June 2017 for each storage and total volumes for the 2016–17 year (inset).

 

  • Storage volumes increased from 52% full at 1 July 2016 to 56% full (955,236 ML) at 30 June 2017.
  • Total storage volume peaked in April 2017 following heavy rainfall associated with ex-tropical cyclone Debbie in March, particularly over the eastern part of the region.
  • Most of the storages in the eastern part of the region closer to the coast were more than 80% of capacity at 30 June 2017.
  • More detailed information on the individual storages within the region is available on the Bureau of Meteorology's Water Storage website.

 

Groundwater assets

  • The groundwater asset volume of 14,624 ML represents the total licensed entitlements associated with the region's aquifers.
  • The asset volume remained constant during the year as there was no change in licences.

 

Water liabilities

  • Water liabilities in the Fitzroy region refer to the volume of allocation remaining on licence entitlements at the end of the 2016–17 year. 

 

Table S1 Volume of surface water allocation remaining at 30 June 2017
  Individual users
(ML)		 Urban system
(ML)		 Irrigation scheme
(ML)
Opening balance at 1 July 2016* 0 0 0
Allocated 110,537 11,559 258,225
Allocated diversion 65,992 7,441 173,064
Adjustment and forfeiture 44,545 4,118 85,161
Closing balance at 30 June 2017 0 0 0

 

Table S2 Volume of groundwater allocation remaining at 30 June 2017
  Individual users
(ML)		 Urban system
(ML)		 Irrigation scheme
(ML)
Opening balance at 1 July 2016* 0 0 0
Allocated 688 987 13,425
Allocated extraction 356 543 9,521
Adjustment and forfeiture 332 444 3,904
Closing balance at 30 June 2017 0 0 0

* Information on opening balances is not available. Any allocation remaining from the previous year is included in the allocation volume.

 

  • Most of the licences have a water year from 1 July–30 June. The portion of water allocation that has not been abstracted at the end of a water year is forfeited and the allocation remaining at the end of the year was 0 ML.
  • A more detailed description of water allocations and associated water rights in the Fitzroy region is given in the Water rights note.

 

Water asset increases

  • Total water asset increases for the year was 12,596,802 ML.
  • The key item contributing to water asset increases for the region was runoff, which made up more than 97% of total increases.

 

Water asset decreases

  • Total water asset decreases for the year was 9,771,938 ML.
  • The key item contributing to water asset decreases for the region was outflow from surface water, which made up more than 85% of the total water asset decreases. 

 

Water flows

  • Total water inflows to the region was 12,596,802 ML, equal to the volume of Water asset increases.
  • Total water outflows from the region was 10,028,855 ML, slightly higher than the volume of Water asset decreases (9,771,938 ML) as it also includes flows corresponding to the accrual transactions—allocated diversions and allocated extractions (see the Water liabilities section above).
  • A detailed description on all the water flows associated with the surface water and groundwater stores is provided in the Water stores note.

 

Unaccounted-for difference

  • The unaccounted–for difference is the volume necessary to reconcile the opening water storage and closing water storage with the total water inflows and total water outflows reported in the water accounting statements.

 

Table S3 Calculation of unaccounted-for difference for the 2016–17 year
     Volume (ML)
  Opening water storage balance at 1 July 2016 918,575
add Total inflows 12,596,802
less Total outflows 10,028,855
less Closing water storage balance at 30 June 2017 1,107,743
  Unaccounted-for difference (2,378,779)

 

  • The relatively high unaccounted-for difference value is primarily attributed to the fact that river losses cannot be quantified in the account, as well as uncertainties associated with the runoff estimate (see Methods).