National Water Account 2019

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Key findings

Climate and water

Water Accounting Statements

Supporting information

Region description

Reference information

Adelaide: Statement details

Water assets

Surface water assets

• Surface water asset volumes in the region at 30 June 2019 were 92,337 ML, around 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 2019 compared with the previous 9 years

• Storage volumes decreased slightly from 47% full at 30 June 2018 to 46% full at 30 June 2019.
• The end of year storage volume at 30 June 2019 was the lowest since 2013.

Figure S2 Percentage-full volume on 30 June 2019 for each storage and total storage volume from 2013–2019 (inset)

• Storage volumes peaked during November 2018 following rainfall during the winter–spring months.
• Despite the below-average rainfall conditions for most of the year, storage volumes at 30 June 2019 were only slightly below that at the same time last year, largely due to the high rainfall across the region during May 2019.
• 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 represents the extraction limits associated with the region's aquifers. This volume does not change from year to year unless a water allocation plan is amended.
• Volumes of water stored in aquifers cannot be quantified due to a lack of available data; however, information on the total annual change in aquifer storage is available.

Figure S3 Total annual change in aquifer volume in the region at 30 June 2019 compared with the previous 7 years

• Below-average rainfall in 2018–19 contributed to an annual decrease in aquifer storage of 46 GL.
• This was the second consecutive year of decreasing aquifer storage within the region and the sixth annual drop in storage over the last eight years.

Water liabilities

• Water liabilities in the Adelaide region refer to the volume of allocation remaining on licence entitlements at the end of the 2018–19 year.

• The surface water licences in the Adelaide region have a management year that ends on 30 June.
• The Barossa Prescribed Water Resources Area licensees for the North Para River and tributaries may carry over the unused portion of their allocation.
• A more detailed description of water allocations and associated water rights in the Adelaide region is given in the Water access and use note.

Water flows

• Total surface water flows into the region's storages was estimated to be around 351 GL. A key item contributing to surface water inflows was runoff, which made up more than one quarter of the total surface water inflows.
• Runoff was much lower than average (based on modelled data from 1971–2019) and the lowest in more than 20 years due to the relatively poor rainfall across the region. This was the second successive year of below-average runoff across the region.
• A key item contributing to surface water outflows from the region's storages was river outflow from the region, which made up more than 30% of the total surface water outflows. River outflow was well below average due to the dry conditions and low runoff across the region.
• A detailed description on all the water flows associated with the surface water and groundwater stores, as well as the urban system and the irrigation scheme, 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.

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