National Water Account 2019

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Key findings

Climate and water

Water Accounting Statements

Supporting information

Region description

Reference information

Adelaide: 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 practice of assurance of water accounting reports are currently not available.
• No information is disclosed about material events that occurred after 30 June 2019, 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:
  

  – Water table aquifer
  – Underlying aquifer

  This is because water store flows could be quantified but storage volumes for these items could not.

• The volumes of water assets and water liabilities including the volumes of changes to water assets and water liabilities that failed the recognition criteria were reported in the water accounting statements with dashes ('–') in order to highlight data and knowledge gaps that may affect the water accounting statement balances.

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.

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.

Dr Robert Argent

General Manager, Water

Bureau of Meteorology

21 February 2020

Water accounting policies

Introduction

The information presented in the Adelaide region water accounting report is based on collaboration between the Bureau of Meteorology and the:

• South Australian Department for Environment and Water.
• South Australian Water Corporation.

The report has been prepared using an accrual basis of water accounting, with the exception of the 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 2018 to 30 June 2019.

Recognition of water assets and water liabilities

Only water that is held or managed by the State licensing authority or the region's urban water system, and from which future 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 decrease of the region's water assets or an 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 farm dams 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 or 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 on 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 entitlements that create a water liability have been recognised as an increase in water liabilities. Note that the definition of entitlements that create a water liability for the purpose of the National Water Account (refer to 'Glossary') may be different to the meaning applied by the jurisdiction. For more information on allocations, refer to the Water access and use note.

Water assets and water liabilities that fail the recognition criteria

The volumes of several water assets identified in the Adelaide 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 to the region's stakeholders.

Water assets that failed the recognition criteria include groundwater aquifers.

Changes to water assets and water liabilities that fail the recognition criteria

The volumes of several changes to water assets and water liabilities identified in the Adelaide 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
• in the case of changes to water assets, they were unlikely to provide a future benefit to the region or the region's stakeholders; and/or
• in the case of changes to water liabilities, they were unlikely to result in a decrease in the region's water assets or an increase in another water liability when the obligation is discharged.

Changes to water assets and water liabilities that failed the recognition criteria include groundwater discharge to landscape, wastewater discharge to surface water, and groundwater leakage from farm dams.

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 line 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 a line item.

Urban water system

Comparative year volumes related to urban water assets were restated from the 2014 and 2015 Accounts due to a change in presentation. Urban water assets, which represent water held in distribution pipes and channels, and service reservoirs, were no longer considered as water assets in the region as this water is needed for operation of the system and no direct benefit is derived.

As a result of this change, comparative year unaccounted-for difference volumes were also restated.

Between-store flows

In the 2014–2017 Accounts, transactions between water assets and water liabilities within the region (e.g. between the surface water store and the groundwater store) were not reported in the water accounting statements. In this account, however, these between-store transactions were included as they provide a better understanding of the water movement that occurs at each water store or system. Comparative year volumes for these transactions are also reported.

Reconciliations

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.

Reconciliation of closing water storage to total water assets

*between-store claims

Reconciliation of the net change in water storage to the change in net water assets

* between-store claims