Ord: 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 is prepared because the practice of assurance of water accounting reports is 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
This is because water store flows could be quantified but storage volumes for these items could not.
– Underlying aquifer
- A volume for recharge from the landscape to groundwater has been recognised, even though its quantification is incomplete, in order to not inflate unnecessarily the unaccounted-for-differences.
- 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
12 December 2019
Water accounting policies
Introduction
The information presented in the Ord region water accounting report is based on collaboration between the Bureau of Meteorology and the:
- Western Australian Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (Department of Water and Environmental Regulation)
- Water Corporation of Western Australia (the 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 or Territory licensing authority or the urban utilities and from which a future probable benefit can be derived by the region's stakeholders 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 probable decrease of the region's water assets or a probable increase in another water liability.
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 storages 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.
The regulated channel of the lower Ord River is recognised as a water asset when the electrical conductivity is below 1,500 μS/cm. Water in the regulated channel above this salinity level is not deemed fit for use and as such does not provide a future benefit to the Ord region.
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 and 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 and evaporation 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 in 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 regulated entitlements have been recognised as an increase in water liabilities. Note that the definitions of regulated or unregulated entitlements for the purpose of the National Water Account may be different to the meaning applied by the jurisdiction (refer to 'Glossary'). Please refer to the Water access and use note for more information on allocations.
Water assets and water liabilities that fail the recognition criteria
The volumes of several water assets identified in the Ord 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 the region's stakeholders.
Water assets that failed the recognition criteria include lakes and wetlands, and groundwater aquifers.
Changes to water assets and water liabilities that fail the recognition criteria
The volumes of several changes to water assets identified in the Ord 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 the region's stakeholders.
Items that failed the recognition criteria include river loss, inter-region groundwater flows and groundwater discharge to landscape.
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 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 an item.
Comparative year volumes related to surface water liability were restated from the 2014–2018 Accounts due to a prior period error. In the 2014–2016 Accounts, allocated diversion to the irrigation scheme was incorrectly estimated using on-farm use in the Ord Irrigation Area, rather than the total volume of water diverted to the area from Lake Kununurra. Similarly, allocated diversion to an individual user was also incorrectly estimated using on-farm data rather than the volume diverted from surface water. In the 2017 and 2018 Accounts, allocated diversion to the irrigation scheme was incorrectly calculated using metered data from a diversion point already included in the metered data from the M1 offtake channel.
The comparative year items restated in the 2019 Account include:
- Allocation remaining: irrigation
- Allocated diversion: irrigation
- Adjustment and forfeiture: irrigation
- Allocation remaining: individual users
- Allocated diversion: individual users
- Unaccounted-for difference
- Change in net water assets
- Closing net water assets
Reconciliations
Introduction
The following reconciliation tables verify:
- how the region’s closing water storage in the Statement of Water Flows reconciles with 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 with the change in net water assets reported in the Statement of Changes in Water Assets and Water Liabilities.
Closing water storage with total water assets
| 2019 ML | |
| Closing water storages as presented in the Statement of Water Flows | 5,840,288 |
| Surface water | |
| Storages | 5,838,214 |
| Rivers | 2,074 |
| Lakes and wetlands | – |
| Groundwater | |
| Water table aquifer | – |
| Underlying aquifers | – |
| Total water storage as presented in the Statement of Water Assets and Water Liabilities | 5,840,288 |
| add Other water assets | 0 |
| Total water assets | 5,840,288 |
Net change in water storage with the change in net water assets
| 2019 ML | |
| Change in net water assets as presented in the Statement of Changes in Water Assets and Water Liabilities | (3,081,756) |
| adjustments for: | |
| Change in non-physical water assets | 0 |
| Change in water liabilities | |
| Surface water liability | |
| Allocation remaining: individual users | (140) |
| Allocation remaining: urban system | 0 |
| Allocation remaining: irrigation scheme | (67,628) |
| Groundwater liability | |
| Allocation remaining: individual users | 0 |
| Allocation remaining: urban system | 0 |
| Total change in water liabilities | (67,768) |
| Net change in water storage as presented in the Statement of Water Flows | (3,149,524) |