South East Queensland: 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 slightly increased during 2020–21 following two consecutive years of decline.
  • This increase represents the change in water volume in the region's surface water storages.

Schematic representation of the South East Queensland region. Total water inflows during 2020–21 was 4,373 GL. Total water outflows was 3,968 GL. Water storage at 30 June 2021 was 3 GL more than the previous year.

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.

 

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  2021 ML 2020 ML 2019 ML 2018 ML 2017 ML 2016 ML
Water inflows
Surface water inflows 3,722,949 2,974,476 1,100,260 2,900,626 3,705,973 1,889,976
Precipitation 196,519 152,562 152,890 225,027 210,893 158,532
Runoff 3,361,358 2,712,476 914,938 2,536,423 3,348,925 1,710,726
Flood return 150,119 95,065 18,274 121,121 128,834 –
Discharge: user 1,163 2,735 2,191 3,090 2,455 9,287
Discharge: wastewater* 13,790 11,638 11,967 14,965 14,866 11,431
 
Groundwater inflows 23,277 25,922 26,414 26,654 25,416 25,513
Leakage: urban system* 23,277 25,922 26,414 26,654 25,416 25,513
 
Urban water system inflows 626,931 646,382 615,136 606,430 593,036 545,851
Wastewater collected 286,556 269,275 252,109 270,874 251,070 245,085
Non-allocated diversion: surface water* 3,556 4,540 3,727 **4,394 3,567 3,531
Non-allocated extraction: groundwater* 6,518 6,961 6,688 7,396 7,868 8,301
Allocated diversion: surface water* 310,808 351,787 346,160 320,949 328,914 287,410
Delivery: inter-region 7 14 14 14 55 0
Delivery: desalinated water 19,486 13,805 6,438 2,803 1,562 1,524
 
Total water inflows 4,373,157 3,646,780 1,741,810 **3,533,710 4,324,425 2,461,340
Water outflows
Surface water outflows 3,359,635 2,624,688 1,452,113 2,425,217 3,692,289 2,074,076
Evaporation 266,514 290,495 329,224 334,217 335,758 331,582
Outflow 2,416,321 1,686,678 608,366 1,471,058 2,720,953 1,306,764
Leakage: landscape 92,572 65,980 **74,878 **108,442 **106,653 **112,275
Overbank flow 239,146 171,847 54,533 163,751 168,727 –
Diversions: statutory rights 3,992 3,806 3,810 3,808 3,794 3,810
Non-allocated diversion: individual users 1,295 1,282 1,312 1,317 1,323 1,316
Non-allocated diversion: urban system* 3,556 4,540 3,727 **4,394 3,567 3,531
Allocated diversion: individual users 25,431 48,273 30,103 17,281 22,600 27,388
Allocated diversion: urban system* 310,808 351,787 346,160 320,949 328,914 287,410
Other surface water decreases 0 0 0 0 0 0
 
Groundwater outflows 18,484 25,311 24,030 19,788 17,515 17,770
Non-allocated extraction: individual users 4,456 7,128 6,437 6,420 4,109 4,951
Non-allocated extraction: urban system* 6,518 6,961 6,688 7,396 7,868 8,301
Allocated extraction: individual users 7,510 11,222 10,905 5,972 5,538 4,518
 
Urban water system outflows 590,007 607,491 596,101 609,151 601,208 544,880
Leakage: groundwater* 23,277 25,922 26,414 26,654 25,416 25,513
Supply system delivery: urban users 323,960 352,159 342,461 302,491 313,447 264,097
Recycled water delivery: irrigation users 99 121 93 88 104 0
Discharge: sea 202,965 191,649 185,447 236,589 213,598 208,648
Discharge: landscape 584 1,380 3,267 **3,296 1,189 2,581
Supply system transfer: inter-region 0 0 0 0 82 0
Other supply system decreases 8,519 10,115 10,281 11,268 11,242 9,141
Recycled water delivery: urban users 13,942 13,448 15,582 13,083 19,478 21,193
Discharge: surface water* 13,790 11,638 11,967 14,965 14,866 11,431
Other wastewater and recycled water system decreases 2,871 1,059 589 717 1,237 2,276
Wastewater transfer: inter-region 0 0 0 0 549 0
 
Total water outflows 3,968,126 3,257,490 **2,072,244 **3,054,156 **4,311,012 **2,636,726
Unaccounted-for difference (402,051) (502,431) **(136,263) **(385,141) **(192,938) **(175,622)
 
 
Change in water storage            
Change in surface water storage 2,980 (132,196) (466,697) 94,413 (179,525) (351,008)
Change in groundwater storage 0 19,055 0 0 0 0
Change in urban water storage 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total change in water storage 2,980 (113,141) (466,697) 94,413 (179,525) (351,008)
 
Closing water storage 1,562,482 1,559,502 1,672,643 2,139,340 2,044,927 2,224,452
 
 
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 2,980 (113,141) (466,697) 94,413 (179,525) (351,008)
 

 

* 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