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Sydney: 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.
  • This decrease represents the change in water volume in the region's surface water storages.

Schematic representation of the Sydney region. Total water inflows during 2022-23 was 14,263 GL. Total water outflows was 14,107 GL. Change in water storage on 30 June 2023 was 83 GL lower 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 10,752,699 16,716,748 11,352,158 6,327,089 2,240,936 1,736,241
Precipitation on storages 10,034 12,562 11,047 6,691 7,199 5,451
Precipitation on rivers 136,850 205,933 168,838 98,645 32,245 22,383
Runoff 10,380,460 16,155,623 10,959,139 6,058,829 2,108,484 1,640,102
Flood return 126,894 220,021 118,811 86,221 16,061 3,792
Discharge from users 0 11 22 0 0 81
Delivery from outside region 3,700 3,681 1,371 2,997 6,675 9,215
Treated wastewater discharge from urban water system* 94,761 118,917 92,930 73,706 70,272 55,217
 
Groundwater inflows 2,374,721 2,891,572 2,104,462 1,071,247 981,966 900,429
Recharge from surface water* 2,327,738 2,847,220 2,063,393 1,027,260 934,134 853,167
Leakage from urban water system* 46,983 44,352 41,069 43,987 47,832 47,262
 
Urban water system inflows 1,135,529 1,225,643 1,100,949 1,074,892 1,089,460 1,068,716
Wastewater collected 602,221 699,456 570,853 536,140 518,384 461,542
Diversion of surface water* 465,312 503,707 510,487 467,605 563,283 607,174
Delivery of desalinated water 67,996 22,480 19,609 71,147 7,793 0
 
Total water inflows 14,262,949 20,833,963 14,557,569 8,473,228 4,312,362 3,705,386
Water outflows
Surface water outflows 12,966,944 19,259,633 14,895,783 7,852,898 2,817,057 2,296,004
Evaporation from storages 11,119 10,348 10,927 11,958 11,853 12,009
Evaporation from rivers 61,406 73,613 54,998 39,736 35,542 33,833
Outflow 9,400,707 14,766,004 11,434,818 5,936,863 1,055,081 605,522
Recharge to groundwater* 2,327,738 2,847,220 2,063,393 1,027,260 934,134 853,167
Overbank flow 665,322 1,023,688 786,757 328,959 171,537 137,391
Diversion of statutory rights 32,500 32,257 32,257 32,257 32,257 32,257
Allocated diversion to individual users 2,840 2,796 2,146 8,260 13,370 14,651
Diversion to the urban system* 465,312 503,707 510,487 467,605 563,283 607,174
 
Groundwater outflows 3,522 24,026 16,918 19,914 3,409 0
Allocated extraction to individual users 3,522 24,026 16,918 19,914 3,409 0
 
Urban water system outflows 1,136,959 1,228,190 1,099,164 1,085,180 1,087,600 1,051,653
Leakage to groundwater* 46,983 44,352 41,069 43,987 47,832 47,262
Supply of drinking water to residential customers 349,861 349,541 360,247 359,637 374,243 395,503
Supply of drinking water to commercial and industrial customers 110,716 101,418 89,182 115,503 108,128 115,503
Supply of drinking water to agriculture and irrigation customers 3,379 3,050 3,407 5,125 4,399 5,125
Supply of drinking water for own use 856 721 1,874 649 469 0
Supply of drinking water to other customers 11,622 13,616 19,123 15,312 24,353 16,501
Supply of recycled water to residential customers 2,086 2,464 2,516 3,063 2,748 3,092
Supply of recycled water to commercial and industrial customers 8,036 8,436 8,554 8,861 8,228 5,356
Supply of recycled water to agriculture and irrigation customers 5,077 4,951 5,123 5,661 5,420 5,758
Supply of recycled water for own use 280 268 235 190 222 188
Treated wastewater discharge to surface water* 94,761 118,917 92,930 73,706 70,272 55,217
Discharge to sea 457,971 494,996 433,130 411,235 416,053 384,874
Other losses 9,892 9,661 10,006 10,154 10,750 12,036
Urban discharge to landscape 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other wastewater losses 35,439 75,799 31,768 32,097 14,483 5,238
 
Total water outflows 14,107,425 20,511,849 16,011,865 8,957,992 3,908,066 3,347,657
 
Unaccounted-for difference (238,592) (279,982) 1,859,692 1,230,856 (839,329) (994,985)
 
 
Change in water storage            
Change in surface water storage (83,068) 42,132 405,396 746,092 (435,033) (637,256)
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 (83,068) 42,132 405,396 746,092 (435,033) (637,256)
 
Closing water storage 2,641,242 2,724,310 2,682,178 2,276,782 1,530,690 1,965,723
 
 
Change in water liability
Surface water liability 0 0 0 0 0 0
Allocation remaining: individual users 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 (83,068) 42,132 405,396 746,092 (435,033) (637,256)

* between-store flows

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