Ord: Water stores
- Poor wet season rainfall contributed to low runoff across the region and a decrease in storage volumes.
- 87% of the region's total water supply was for irrigation within the Main Ord River management area.
- Water supply for irrigation was 271 GL, about 40% higher than last year.
For a water balance on each of the region's water stores for the 2018–19 year scroll down this page or click on the links below:
Surface water store
| Description | Volume (ML) | |
| Opening surface water store | 8,989,812 | |
| add | Inflows | 2,483,169 |
| less | Outflows | 5,169,242 |
| add | Balancing item | (463,451) |
| Closing surface water store | 5,840,288 | |
- The volume of surface water in the region decreased from 8,990 GL at 1 July 2018 to 5,840 GL at 30 June 2019.
- The balancing item is less than 10% of the closing surface water store and is primarily attributed to uncertainties associated with the runoff estimate (see Methods).
Surface water flows
Figure S3 Water inflows and outflows for the surface water store during the 2018–19 year
- The largest natural water flows were runoff and outflow. Both were well below average due to the dry conditions across the region throughout most of the year.
Figure S4 Allocated surface water diversions during the 2018–19 year in the region's key water management areas
- Total surface water diverted in the region was 307 GL.
- 88% of the total diversion was for irrigation scheme supply, all within the Main Ord River management area.
- About 11% of the diversion was supplied to individual users; less than 1% was used for the urban system.
- For a more detailed description of the water usage in the region, and the associated allocations, see the Surface water rights note.
Groundwater store
| Description | Volume (ML) | |
| Opening groundwater store | – | |
| add | Inflows | 6,202 |
| less | Outflows | 6,202 |
| add | Balancing item | 0 |
| Closing groundwater store | – | |
- The volume of groundwater in the region is assumed to remain unchanged throughout the year.
- Total groundwater inflow is assumed to equal the volume of groundwater extracted, so the groundwater store is assumed to balance (i.e. the balancing item is zero).
Groundwater flows
Figure S5 Water inflows and outflows for the groundwater store during the 2018–19 year
- Groundwater movement across the region boundary as well as surface water–groundwater interactions are considered to occur within the region; however, these flows could not be quantified due to a lack of available data.
- Total groundwater extracted in the region was 6 GL.
- 71% of the total extraction was for individual users while 29% was used for the urban system.
- For a more detailed description of the water usage in the region, and the associated allocations, see the Groundwater rights note.