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National Water Account 2019

South East Queensland: Statement details

  • Dry conditions contributed to very low runoff and storage inflows across the region.
  • End of year storage volume dropped to 65% full, the lowest in more than 10 years.


For further information on the region's water accounting statements scroll down this page or click on the links below:

 

Water assets

Lake Perserverance, SEQ region (Bureau of Meteorology © Habibur Rahman)

 

  • Total water asset volumes in the region at 30 June 2019 were 1,673 GL, more than 99% of which is water held in storages. The remaining amount is water held in rivers and aquifers.

 

Graph of total storage volume in the region at 30 June 2019 compared with the previous 9 years

Figure S1 Total storage volume in the region at 30 June 2019 compared with the previous 9 years

 

  • Storage volumes decreased from 79% full at 30 June 2018 to 65% full at 30 June 2019, the third annual decrease in storage over the last four years.
  • The end of year storage at 30 June 2019 was the lowest in more than 10 years.
  • Five storages (Wivenhoe, Somerset, Hinze, North Pine and Wyaralong) make up more than 80% of the region's total surface water storage.

 

Map showing percentage-full volume on 30 June 2019 for each storage and total storage volume from 2013–2019 (inset)

FigureS2 Percentage-full volume on 30 June 2019 for each storage and total storage volume from 2013–2019 (inset)

 

  • Except for small rises in storage during October and December 2018 following rainfall events in those months, storage volumes declined for most of the year.
  • Wivenhoe—the largest storage in the region—dropped to 55% full by the end of the year. This is the lowest volume in the reservoir in more than 10 years.
  • More detailed information on the individual storages within the region is available on the Bureau of Meteorology's Water Storage website.

 

Water liabilities

Farm irrigation, Queensland (istock © George Clerk)

 

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

 

Table S1 Volume of surface water allocation remaining at 30 June 2019
Description Individual users (ML) Urban system (ML)
  Opening balance at 1 July 2018 0 0
add Allocation 62,549 483,177
less Allocated diversion 30,103 346,160
less Adjustment and forfeiture 32,446 137,017
  Closing balance at 30 June 2019 0 0

 

Table S2 Volume of groundwater allocation remaining at 30 June 2019
Description Individual users (ML)
  Opening balance at 1 July 2018 0
add Allocation 11,115
less Allocated diversion 10,905
less Adjustment and forfeiture 210
  Closing balance at 30 June 2019 0

 

  • All water supply licences for the region have a water management year that ends on 30 June.
  • As there are no carry-over provisions for water supply licences in the South East Queensland region, the portion of water allocation that has not been abstracted at the end of a water year is forfeited and the allocation remaining at the end of the year is 0 ML.
  • A more detailed description of water allocations and associated water rights in the South East Queensland region is given in the Water access and use note.

 

Water flows

Brisbane River, SEQ region (istock © Wendy Townrow)

 

  • Total surface water flows into the region's storages was 1,100 GL. The key item contributing to surface water inflows was runoff, which made up more than 80% 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 10 years due to the relatively poor rainfall across the region. This was the fourth 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, which made up almost 40% 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 water system, is provided in the Water stores note.

 

Unaccounted-for difference

Hinze Dam, SEQ region (Seqwater © anonymous)

 

  • 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.

 

Table S3 Calculation of unaccounted-for difference for the 2018–19 year
Description Volume (ML)
  Closing water storage at 30 June 2019 1,672,643
less Total inflows 1,741,810
add Total outflows 2,209,604
less Opening water storage at 1 July 2018 2,139,340
  Unaccounted-for difference 1,097

 

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