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National Water Account 2018

Burdekin: Statement details

  • Below-average rainfall for most of the year contributed to relatively low runoff and streamflows across the region.
  • End of year storage volume dropped to 93% full compared to 96% full last year; above-average flow in the Burdekin River from March–April helped maintain storage levels.

 

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

 

 

Water assets

Surface water assets

  • Surface water asset volumes in the Burdekin region at 30 June 2018 were 1,890,101 ML, more than 99% of which is water held in storages. The remaining amount is water held in rivers.

Figure S1 Total storage volume in the region at 30 June 2018 compared with the previous 4 years 

Figure S1 Total storage volume in the region at 30 June 2018 compared with the previous 4 years

 

  • Storage volumes decreased from 96% full at 30 June 2017 to 93% full (1,886,495 ML) at 30 June 2018.
  • The volume of water in Lake Dalrymple makes up more than 90% of the regions's total surface water storage.

 

Figure S2 Percentage-full volume on 30 June 2018 for each storage and total daily storage volume from 2016–18 (inset)

Figure S2 Percentage-full volume on 30 June 2018 for each storage and total daily storage volume from 2016–18 (inset)

 

  • All storages were more than 70% of capacity at 30 June 2018.
  • Storage volumes exceeded 130% full in early-April 2018 following above-average rainfall in February 2018. Storage volumes remained above 100% full until early May 2018.
  • 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 168,704 ML represents the licensed entitlements associated with the region's aquifers.

 

Water liabilities

  • Water liabilities in the Burdekin region refer to the volume of allocation remaining on licence entitlements at the end of the 2017–18 year.

 

Table S1 Volume of surface water allocation remaining at 30 June 2018
Description  Individual users (ML)  Urban system (ML)  Irrigation scheme (ML)  Inter-region Transfer (ML)
  Opening balance at 1 July 2017 1,333 0 58,824 0
add Allocation 440,508 13,909 667,973 31,425
less Allocated diversion 74,905 13,812 517,544  25,780
less Adjustment and forfeiture 366,936 97 135,169 5,645
  Closing balance at 30 June 2018 0 0 74,084 0

 

 

Table S2 Volume of groundwater allocation remaining at 30 June 2018
Description  Individual users (ML)  Urban system (ML) Irrigation scheme (ML)
  Opening balance at 1 July 2017 0 0 0
add Allocation 871 480 54,487
less Allocated extraction 871 287 42,657
less Adjustment and forfeiture 0 193 11,830
  Closing balance at 30 June 2018 0 0 0

 

  • All the water supply licences for the region have a water management year that ends on 30 June.
  • A more detailed description of water allocations and associated water rights in the Burdekin region is given in the Water rights note.

 

Water asset increases

  • Total water asset increases for the year was 8,362,621 ML.
  • The key item contributing to water asset increase for the region was runoff, which made up 95% of total water asset increases.
  • Runoff was below average, due to relatively low rainfall conditions across the region for most of the year (see Climate and water).

 

Water asset decreases

  • Total water asset decreases for the year was 7,052,430 ML.
  • The key item contributing to the water asset decreases for the region was outflow from the region, which made up approximately 83% of the total water asset decreases.
  • Above-average rainfall in February-March 2018, particularly over the northern part of the region, contributed to above-average outflows from the Burdekin River (see Climate and water).

 

Water flows

  • Total water outflows from the region were 7,728,286 ML, higher than the volume of Water asset decreases (7,052,430 ML) as it includes the 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 2017–18 year
Description  Volume (ML)
  Closing water storage balance at 30 June 2018 2,058,805
less Total inflows 8,362,621
add Total outflows 7,728,286
less Opening water storage balance at 1 July 2017 2,044,876
  Unaccounted-for difference (620,406)

 

  • The relatively high unaccounted-for difference value is primarily attributed to uncertainties associated with the runoff estimate (see Methods).