Melbourne: Statement of Changes in Water Assets and Water Liabilities
for the year ended 30 June 2018
- Water availability decreased during the 2017–18 year. This follows an increase in water availability the previous year.
- The change in water available is represented by the change in net water assets.
The Statement of Changes in Water Assets and Water Liabilities is provided in the table below. The statement presents the changes in water assets and water liabilities that occurred during the year, including accrual transactions (e.g. allocations and forfeitures) and actual water flows, both natural and engineered.
Select comparative year
| 2018 ML | 2017 ML | 2016 ML | 2015 ML | 2014 ML | 2013 ML | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water asset increases | ||||||
| Surface water increases | 1,094,339 | 2,210,042 | 1,106,190 | 1,325,781 | 2,054,916 | 2,153,385 |
| Precipitation | 49,683 | 60,576 | 42,410 | 31,431 | 39,796 | 35,591 |
| Discharge: groundwater* | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Runoff | 823,638 | 1,806,253 | 916,345 | 1,105,096 | 1,768,154 | 1,903,420 |
| Point return: irrigation | 57 | 61 | 82 | 121 | 61 | 63 |
| Flood return | 41,878 | 90,424 | – | – | – | – |
| Discharge: urban supply* | 0 | 831 | 281 | 349 | 362 | 26,243 |
| Claims: inter-region | 145,425 | 188,238 | 132,993 | 160,554 | 217,587 | 188,068 |
| Claims: desalinated water | 15,000 | 46,216 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Discharge: wastewater* | 18,658 | 17,443 | 14,079 | 28,230 | 28,956 | – |
| Groundwater increases | 212,730 | 278,749 | 271,754 | 412,328 | 405,396 | 449,677 |
| Inter-region inflow | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Inter-region coastal inflow | 28,471 | 28,713 | 28,394 | 33,665 | 30,504 | 31,076 |
| Recharge: landscape | 116,110 | 202,488 | 192,457 | 287,949 | 338,319 | 382,674 |
| Recharge: surface water* | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Leakage: urban system* | 39,891 | 33,770 | 38,633 | **35,510 | **36,573 | **35,927 |
| Other groundwater increases | 28,258 | **13,778 | 12,270 | 55,204 | 0 | 0 |
| Urban water system increases | 859,936 | 955,808 | 900,869 | 798,780 | 850,456 | 709,743 |
| Wastewater collected | 361,263 | 377,859 | 350,688 | 336,494 | 350,537 | 340,734 |
| Claims: surface water* | 497,174 | 576,450 | 548,682 | 461,223 | 499,506 | 368,435 |
| Claims: groundwater* | 1,499 | 1,499 | 1,499 | 1,063 | 413 | 413 |
| Other increases | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 161 |
| Total water asset increases | 2,167,005 | 3,444,599 | 2,278,813 | 2,536,889 | 3,310,768 | 3,312,805 |
| Water liability decreases | ||||||
| Surface water liability decreases | 72,695 | 112,229 | 106,383 | 68,220 | 72,791 | 60,281 |
| Adjustment and forfeiture: individual users | 1,547 | **2,900 | 600 | 1,978 | 1,867 | 7,229 |
| Adjustment and forfeiture: urban system* | 69,772 | 107,896 | 105,422 | 65,842 | 70,559 | 53,052 |
| Adjustment and forfeiture: inter-region | 1,376 | 1,433 | 361 | 400 | 365 | 0 |
| Groundwater liability decreases | 48,232 | 39,058 | 47,261 | 43,107 | 26,467 | 26,514 |
| Adjustment and forfeiture: individual users | 46,805 | 37,619 | 45,864 | 42,130 | 26,156 | 26,167 |
| Adjustment and forfeiture: urban system* | 1,427 | 1,439 | 1,397 | 977 | 311 | 347 |
| Total water liability decreases | 120,927 | 151,287 | 153,644 | 111,327 | 99,258 | 86,795 |
| Water asset decreases | ||||||
| Surface water decreases | 851,180 | 1,458,782 | 827,955 | 982,746 | 1,394,420 | 1,497,861 |
| Evaporation | 63,681 | 65,142 | 58,034 | 54,829 | 44,132 | 47,133 |
| Outflow | 650,361 | 1,200,655 | 696,897 | 854,717 | 1,274,041 | 1,377,155 |
| Recharge: groundwater* | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Overbank flow | 65,276 | 137,399 | – | – | – | – |
| Non-allocated diversion: individual users | 12,243 | **12,042 | 14,670 | 12,550 | 13,682 | 13,509 |
| Claims: inter-region | 59,619 | **43,544 | 58,354 | 60,650 | 62,565 | 60,064 |
| Claims: desalinated water | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Groundwater decreases | 132,349 | 134,657 | 124,561 | 150,634 | 147,712 | 154,401 |
| Inter-region outflow | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Inter-region coastal outflow | 132,349 | 134,657 | 124,561 | 139,716 | 137,638 | 136,022 |
| Discharge: landscape | – | – | – | 10,918 | 10,074 | 18,379 |
| Discharge: surface water* | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Other groundwater decreases | 0 | **0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Urban water system decreases | 886,363 | 920,169 | 899,676 | 807,114 | 818,212 | 784,957 |
| Leakage: groundwater* | 39,891 | 33,770 | 38,633 | **35,510 | **36,573 | **35,927 |
| Delivery: urban users | 398,598 | 386,197 | 390,311 | 368,451 | 363,157 | 381,256 |
| Discharge: surface water* | 0 | 831 | 281 | 349 | 362 | 26,243 |
| Recycled water delivery: irrigation | 12,224 | 8,970 | 11,868 | 7,567 | 5,769 | 8,076 |
| Discharge: sea | 277,668 | 301,846 | 267,248 | 261,293 | 275,538 | 268,134 |
| Discharge: landscape | 253 | 190 | 27 | 131 | 0 | 0 |
| Supply system transfer: inter-region | 2,159 | 1,071 | 431 | 247 | 351 | 250 |
| Supply system delivery: irrigation | 1,507 | 756 | 1,365 | 67 | 112 | 0 |
| Claims: surface water* | 69,772 | 107,896 | 105,422 | 65,842 | 70,559 | 53,052 |
| Claims: groundwater* | 1,427 | 1,439 | 1,397 | 977 | 311 | 347 |
| Other supply system decreases | 14,699 | 11,717 | 15,574 | 15,745 | 14,397 | 11,672 |
| Recycled water delivery: urban users | 31,479 | 30,633 | 31,492 | 22,634 | 22,072 | – |
| Wastewater discharge: surface water* | 18,658 | 17,443 | 14,079 | 28,230 | 28,956 | – |
| Other wastewater decreases | 18,028 | 17,410 | 21,548 | 71 | 55 | – |
| Total water asset decreases | 1,869,892 | 2,513,608 | 1,852,192 | 1,940,494 | 2,360,344 | 2,437,219 |
| Water liability increases | ||||||
| Surface water liability increases | 508,750 | 600,292 | 555,758 | 475,872 | 519,942 | 389,968 |
| Allocation: individual users | 6,351 | 18,617 | 3,175 | 11,143 | 16,545 | 18,302 |
| Allocation: urban system* | 497,174 | 576,450 | 548,682 | 461,223 | 499,506 | 368,435 |
| Allocation: inter-region | 5,225 | 5,225 | 3,901 | 3,506 | 3,891 | 3,231 |
| Groundwater liability increases | 69,314 | 59,430 | 71,966 | 62,234 | 40,881 | 41,992 |
| Allocation: individual users | 67,815 | 57,931 | 70,467 | 61,171 | 40,468 | 41,579 |
| Allocation: urban system* | 1,499 | 1,499 | 1,499 | 1,063 | 413 | 413 |
| Total water liability increases | 578,064 | 659,722 | 627,724 | 538,106 | 560,823 | 431,960 |
| Unaccounted-for difference | 67,112 | **(335,617) | **(128,865) | **(281,939) | **(473,199) | **(528,194) |
| Change in net water assets | ||||||
| Change in net surface water assets | (60,999) | **56,035 | (174,827) | (86,812) | 1,464 | 91,545 |
| Change in net groundwater assets | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 181 |
| Change in net urban water assets | (31,913) | 30,904 | (1,497) | (25,511) | 14,196 | (89,499) |
| Total change in net water assets | (92,912) | **86,939 | (176,324) | (112,323) | 15,660 | 2,227 |
* between-store flows
** different to published volume in historical accounts (see Governance section for more information)