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Canberra: Statement of Changes in Water Assets and Water Liabilities

For the water account period 01 July 2022 - 30 June 2023 

  • The volume of water in the region's storages decreased during 2022–23 despite prolonged wet conditions.
  • This decrease represents the change in water volume in the region's surface water storages.

Schematic representation of the Canberra region. Total water inflows during 2022–23 was 1,845 GL. Total water outflows was 2,298 GL. Water storage at 30 June 2022 was 4 GL less 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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  2023 (ML) 2022 (ML) 2021 (ML) 2020 (ML) 2019 (ML) 2018 (ML)
Water inflows
Surface water inflows 1,655,648 2,143,917 1,129,254 250,877 272,180 423,985
Precipitation on storages 23,117 25,597 22,539 9,178 9,935 11,049
Precipitation on rivers 15,201 16,202 12,508 2,835 2,525 3,543
Runoff 854,936 832,975 589,704 156,913 180,690 259,066
Flood return 2,896 4,040 1,144 0 0 0
Inflow from outside the region 715,316 1,221,288 463,063 47,935 45,123 116,746
Treated wastewater discharge from urban water system* 44,168 43,770 40,277 34,000 33,907 33,581
Urban water return 14 45 19 16 - -
 
Groundwater inflows 92,287 99,456 67,521 37,551 41,678 53,333
Recharge from surface water* 88,636 96,545 64,766 34,249 38,740 48,857
Leakage from urban water system* 3,651 2,811 2,755 3,302 2,938 4,476
 
Urban water system inflows 96,797 95,271 97,410 94,593 90,413 88,899
Wastewater collected 49,029 49,881 48,091 39,210 37,452 36,701
Diversion of surface water* 47,768 45,390 49,319 55,383 52,961 52,198
 
Total water inflows 1,844,732 2,338,644 1,294,185 383,021 404,271 566,271
Water outflows
Surface water outflows 2,202,722 2,961,585 1,395,352 283,150 256,963 403,493
Evaporation from storages 24,834 23,853 24,579 20,545 21,719 23,042
Evaporation from rivers 10,042 12,617 6,991 2,738 3,340 4,356
Outflow to outside the region 1,964,725 2,706,229 1,226,577 166,956 136,997 271,379
Recharge to groundwater* 88,636 96,545 64,766 34,249 38,740 48,857
Overbank flow 64,881 75,574 21,692 0 19 559
Diversion of statutory rights 495 495 495 495 297 297
Allocated diversion to individual users 1,341 782 933 2,784 2,890 2,805
Diversion to the urban system* 47,768 45,390 49,319 55,383 52,961 52,198
 
Groundwater outflows 453 753 983 1,499 1,198 1,265
Extraction of statutory rights – 434 434 435 435 435
Allocated extraction to individual users 453 319 549 1,064 763 830
 
Urban water system outflows 94,997 90,006 90,590 89,808 87,140 86,886
Leakage to groundwater* 3,651 2,811 2,755 3,302 2,938 4,476
Return to surface water 14 45 19 16 - -
Supply of drinking water to residential customers 33,819 33,528 35,637 39,171 37,267 35,067
Supply of drinking water to commercial and industrial customers 9,554 8,716 10,425 12,138 11,878 12,120
Supply of drinking water to other customer -       52 -
Supply of drinking water for own use 74 52 - - - -
Supply of recycled water to residential customers 146 77 183 - - -
Supply of recycled water to commercial and industrial customers 114 18 149 72 53 -
Supply of recycled water for own use 2,625 142 1 0 0 0
Treated wastewater discharge to surface water* 44,168 43,770 40,277 34,000 33,907 33,581
Other losses 832 847 1,144 1,106 1,041 1,613
Urban discharge to landscape - - - 3 4 3
Other wastewater losses - 0 0 0 0 26
 
Total water outflows 2,298,172 3,052,344 1,486,925 374,457 345,301 491,644
 
Unaccounted-for difference 449,215 710,104 326,293 (12,580) (93,868) (116,961)
 
 
Change in water storage            
Change in surface water storage (4,225) (3,596) 133,553 (4,016) (34,898) (42,388)
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 (4,225) (3,596) 133,553 (4,016) (34,898) (42,388)
 
Closing water storage 327,698 331,923 335,519 201,966 205,982 240,880
 
 
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
 
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 (4,255) (3,596) 133,553 (4,016) (34,898) (42,388)

* between-store flows


Note: quantification approaches used to derive each item volume are provided in the Methods