Until the outcome of the 2025 federal election, the Australian Government is operating under caretaker conventions

Bureau Home » Water Information » National Water Account » 2021 Account » Sydney » Water Accounting Statements » Changes in Water Assets and Water Liabilities

Sydney: 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 second consecutive year.
  • This increase represents the change in water volume in the region's surface water storages.

Schematic representation of the Sydney region. Total water inflows during 2020–21 was 13,374 GL. Total water outflows was 15,433 GL. Water storage at 30 June 2021 was 491 GL higher 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.

 

Expand all Collapse all
 

Select comparative year

 

  2021 ML 2020 ML 2019 ML 2018 ML 2017 ML 2016 ML
Water inflows
Surface water inflows 10,085,583 4,865,438 1,549,891 1,426,950 4,654,903 5,125,053
Precipitation 163,581 86,450 34,539 80,591 173,155 139,962
Runoff 9,785,749 4,685,672 1,430,858 1,280,612 4,357,364 4,909,529
Flood return 41,940 16,613 7,546 1,234 41,920 –
Discharge: user 11 0 0 81 828 0
Delivery: inter-region 1,371 2,997 6,675 9,215 3,712 4,448
Discharge: wastewater* 92,931 73,706 70,273 55,217 77,924 71,114
 
Groundwater inflows 2,187,123 1,384,903 751,985 710,660 41,670 37,665
Inter-region inflow – – – – – –
Recharge: landscape – – – – – –
Recharge: surface water* 2,146,054 1,340,916 704,153 **663,398 – –
Leakage: urban* 41,069 43,987 47,832 **47,262 **41,670 **37,665
 
Urban water system inflows 1,100,949 1,074,892 1,089,460 1,068,716 1,125,786 1,102,892
Wastewater collected 570,853 536,140 518,384 461,542 562,042 547,783
Allocated diversion: surface water* 510,487 467,605 563,283 607,174 563,744 555,109
Allocated extraction: groundwater* 0 0 0 – – –
Delivery: desalinated water 19,609 71,147 7,793 0 0 0
 
Total water inflows 13,373,655 7,325,233 3,391,336 **3,206,326 **5,822,359 **6,265,610
Water outflows
Surface water outflows 14,317,242 7,514,174 2,483,429 2,060,036 4,957,977 4,794,630
Evaporation 68,292 57,313 48,946 179,549 189,060 150,271
Outflow 10,785,253 5,206,950 968,890 551,766 3,888,675 4,036,219
Recharge: groundwater* 2,146,054 1,340,916 704,153 663,398 – –
Overbank flow 772,753 400,873 152,530 11,241 265,696 –
Diversion: statutory rights 32,257 32,257 32,257 32,257 32,257 32,530
Allocated diversion: individual users 2,146 8,260 13,370 14,651 18,545 20,501
Allocated diversion: urban system* 510,487 467,605 563,283 607,174 563,744 555,109
 
Groundwater outflows 16,918 19,914 3,409 – – –
Inter-region outflow – – – – – –
Discharge: landscape – – – – – –
Allocated extraction: individual users 16,918 19,914 3,409 – – –
Allocated extraction: urban system* 0 0 0 – – –
 
Urban water system outflows 1,099,167 1,085,180 1,087,600 1,051,653 1,117,802 1,087,676
Leakage: groundwater* 41,069 43,987 47,832 47,262 41,670 37,665
Supply system delivery: urban users 471,959 495,577 511,123 532,632 502,178 491,281
Recycled water delivery: urban users 16,429 17,775 16,618 14,394 13,596 17,502
Wastewater discharge: surface water* 92,931 73,706 70,273 55,217 77,924 71,114
Discharge: sea 433,131 411,235 416,052 384,874 456,190 432,491
Other supply system decreases 11,880 10,803 11,219 12,036 11,076 10,113
Discharge: landscape 0 0 0 0 94 –
Other wastewater and recycled water system decreases 31,768 32,097 14,483 5,238 15,074 27,510
 
Total water outflows 15,433,327 8,619,268 3,574,438 3,111,689 6,075,779 5,882,306
 
Unaccounted-for difference 2,550,644 2,039,857 (412,103) **(740,798) **122,894 **(226,715)
 
 
Change in water storage            
Change in surface water storage 490,961 745,822 (595,205) (646,161) (130,526) 156,589
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 490,961 745,822 (595,205) (646,161) (130,526) 156,589
 
Closing water storage 2,686,446 2,195,485 1,449,663 2,044,868 2,691,029 2,821,555
 
 
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
Allocation remaining: urban system* 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total change in water liability 0 0 0 0 0 0
             
Net change in water assets 490,961 745,822 (595,205) (646,161) (130,526) 156,589
 

 

* 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