Canberra: Statement of Changes in Water Assets and Water Liabilities
for the year ended 30 June 2021
- The volume of water in the region's storages increased during 2020–21 for the first time in five years.
- This increase represents the change in water volume in the region's surface water storages.
The Statement of Changes in Water Assets and Water Liabilities is provided in the table below. The statement presents the actual water flows associated with the region's water stores, as well as the changes in water assets and water liabilities that occurred during the year.
Select comparative year
| 2021 ML | 2020 ML | 2019 ML | 2018 ML | 2017 ML | 2016 ML | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water inflows | ||||||
| Surface water inflows | 996,926 | 278,756 | 227,243 | 473,629 | 1,005,409 | 1,029,074 |
| Precipitation | 34,200 | 11,850 | 12,128 | 14,434 | **21,041 | **22,873 |
| Inter-region inflow | 447,224 | 47,368 | 45,205 | 116,647 | **262,309 | **409,510 |
| Runoff | 473,676 | 185,239 | 135,696 | 308,505 | **682,898 | **561,041 |
| Flood return | 1,189 | 0 | 0 | 462 | 2,190 | **1,603 |
| Discharge: wastewater* | 40,637 | 34,299 | 34,214 | 33,581 | **36,971 | **34,047 |
| Groundwater inflows | 116,634 | 70,047 | 47,639 | 167,021 | 4,079 | 4,454 |
| Inter-region inflow | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Recharge: landscape | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Recharge: surface water* | 113,879 | 66,745 | 44,701 | 162,545 | – | – |
| Leakage: urban* | 2,755 | 3,302 | 2,938 | 4,476 | 4,079 | 4,454 |
| Urban water system inflows | 97,409 | 94,593 | 90,413 | 88,899 | 90,779 | 89,049 |
| Wastewater collected | 48,090 | 39,210 | 37,452 | 36,701 | 40,821 | 38,646 |
| Allocated diversion: surface water* | 49,319 | 55,383 | 52,961 | 52,198 | 49,958 | 50,403 |
| Total water inflows | 1,210,969 | 443,396 | 365,295 | 729,549 | **1,100,267 | **1,122,577 |
| Water outflows | ||||||
| Surface water outflows | 1,343,755 | 315,934 | 245,947 | 505,258 | 956,073 | 897,248 |
| Evaporation | 31,812 | 23,571 | 26,875 | **29,155 | **31,083 | **32,403 |
| Outflow | 1,124,247 | 166,956 | 118,223 | 251,295 | **818,608 | **773,504 |
| Recharge: groundwater* | 113,879 | 66,745 | 44,701 | 162,545 | – | – |
| Overbank flow | 23,070 | 0 | 0 | 6,963 | 53,617 | **37,517 |
| Diversion: statutory rights | 495 | 495 | 297 | 297 | – | – |
| Allocated diversion: individual users | 933 | 2,784 | 2,890 | **2,805 | **2,807 | **3,421 |
| Allocated diversion: urban system* | 49,319 | 55,383 | 52,961 | 52,198 | 49,958 | 50,403 |
| Groundwater outflows | 983 | 1,499 | 1,198 | 1,265 | 1,254 | 1,276 |
| Inter-region outflow | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Discharge: landscape | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Extraction: statutory rights | 434 | 435 | 435 | 435 | 435 | 435 |
| Allocated extraction: individual users | 549 | 1,064 | 763 | 830 | **819 | **841 |
| Urban water system outflows | 90,995 | 90,091 | 87,447 | 86,957 | 87,731 | 85,558 |
| Leakage: groundwater* | 2,755 | 3,302 | 2,938 | 4,476 | 4,079 | 4,454 |
| Supply system delivery: urban users | 46,062 | 51,309 | 49,197 | 47,187 | 45,244 | 45,241 |
| Discharge: landscape | – | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Wastewater discharge: surface water* | 40,637 | 34,299 | 34,214 | 33,581 | **36,971 | **34,047 |
| Other supply system decreases | 1,144 | 1,106 | 1,041 | 1,613 | 949 | 1,187 |
| Recycled water delivery: urban users | 397 | 72 | 53 | 71 | 91 | 246 |
| Other wastewater and recycled water system decreases | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 394 | 380 |
| Total water outflows | 1,435,733 | 407,524 | 334,592 | **593,480 | **1,045,058 | **984,082 |
| Unaccounted-for difference | 357,629 | (40,151) | (65,232) | **(178,432) | **(56,918) | **(125,292) |
| Change in water storage | ||||||
| Change in surface water storage | 132,865 | (4,279) | (34,529) | **(42,363) | **(1,709) | **13,203 |
| Change in groundwater storage | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Change in urban water storage | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total change in water storage | 132,865 | (4,279) | (34,529) | **(42,363) | **(1,709) | **13,203 |
| Closing water storage | 331,662 | 198,797 | 203,076 | **237,605 | **279,968 | **281,677 |
| Change in water liability | ||||||
| Surface water liability | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Allocation remaining: individual users | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Allocation remaining: urban system* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Groundwater liability | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Allocation remaining: individual users | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total change in water liability | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Net change in water assets | 132,865 | (4,279) | (34,529) | **(42,363) | **(1,709) | **13,203 |
* between-store flows
** different to published volume in historical accounts (see Governance for more information)
Note: quantification approaches used to derive each item volume are provided in the Methods