South East Queensland: Administration
Surface water and groundwater management
Water legislation
The Queensland Water Act 2000 (Water Act) authorises the administration of basic water rights and water entitlements (interim allocations, water licences and water allocations) in Queensland (Government Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel 2015b). The Water Act is supported by the Queensland Government Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel's Water Regulation 2002 (2015c), which provides details on the procedures and fees associated with water access entitlements and trading.
Under s. 38 of the Water Act, the relevant minister may prepare a water resource plan (WRP) for any part of Queensland to advance the sustainable management of water. WRPs may be prepared for but are not limited to the purposes listed under s. 38(3) of the Water Act.
There are WRPs in place to manage water across the entire South East Queensland region. Resource operations plans (ROPs) implement the outcomes and strategies specified in the WRP. The ROP specifies the day-to-day rules and management arrangement for water users and infrastructure operators.
The Water Act vests all rights to the use, flow and control of water in the State of Queensland.
Water management plans
A number of water management instruments including WRPs used in the region are described in Table C2.
| WRP | Resource Operations Plan (ROP) | Water Supply System (WSS) and Resource Operations Licence (ROL) / Interim Resource Operations Licence (IROL) |
| Gold Coast WRP 2006 (Queensland Government Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel 2014b) | Gold Coast ROP (Queensland Government Department of Natural Resources and Mines 2015a) | Nerang WSS ROL |
| Logan Basin WRP 2007 (Queensland Government Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel 2014c) | Logan Basin ROP (Queensland Government Department of Natural Resources and Mines 2015b) | Logan River WSS ROL |
| Moreton WRP 2007 (Queensland Government Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel 2014a) | Moreton ROP (Queensland Government Department of Natural Resources and Mines 2015c) | Central Brisbane River and Stanley WSS ROL Cressbrook Creek WSS ROL Pine Valleys WSS ROL Central Lockyer WSS IROL1 Lower Lockyer WSS ROL Warrill Valley WSS ROL |
1IROL is not administered under a ROP.
The South East Queensland region contains three WRPs: Gold Coast, Logan Basin and Moreton (Figure C8).
Figure C8 Water resource plan areas in the South East Queensland region
Within each WRP area, there is a number of WSSs as shown in Figure C9, made up of connected water supply infrastructure.
Figure C9 Water supply schemes in the South East Queensland region
A ROL or interim resource operations licence (IROL) (Queensland Government Department of Natural Resources and Mines 2015d) provide a licence under which water supply infrastructure can be operated.
Water resource plans
WRPs are used to:
- detail how the Queensland Government aims to meet each catchments' social, economic and environmental needs
- outline environmental flow objectives specific to plan area
- consider environmental values and water quality objectives
- describe water allocation security objectives.
Resource operations plans
The purpose of ROPs is to:
- specify information for each regional water supply scheme
- detail how to operationally meet each WRP's environmental flow objectives and water allocation security objectives
- describe how the water resources will be managed on a daily basis to meet these needs
- outline WSS licence-holder flow management, infrastructure operating conditions, water sharing, monitoring and trading rules.
Resource operations licences
ROLs are used to:
- provide detail of the licence holder and the ROP to which the licence relates
- stipulate, if required, the water infrastructure such as dams and weirs, covered by the licence
- specify any conditions that the licence holder must comply with, including operating arrangements and water supply requirements.
Seqwater is the ROL holder for all WSSs in the South East Queensland region, with the exception of the Cressbrook Creek WSS which is held by Toowoomba Regional Council.
Interim resource operations licences
IROLs are granted in relation to infrastructure in an area where a ROP has not been approved or the infrastructure has not yet been included in a ROP. The purpose of IROLs is to:
- provide detail about the licence holder
- stipulate, if required, the water infrastructure such as dams and weirs, covered by the licence
- specify any conditions that the licence holder must comply with, including operating arrangements and water supply requirements.
The water management plans and WSSs in the South East Queensland region during the 2014–15 year are detailed in Table C3. Areas not covered by the WSSs are managed as Queensland unsupplemented water rights (which, for national consistency, in the 2015 Account are referred to as 'unregulated water rights') under the Water Act, WRPs and ROPs. Queensland Government Department of Natural Resources and Mines (2015e) defined unallocated water as 'water in the consumptive pool not allocated to licence holders or needed for losses'. Unallocated water may be held as a general, strategic or town water supply reserve. Water in a WRP area, if any, is identified in the WRP and a process for dealing with unallocated water is included in the ROP.
Groundwater management plans
The following GMAs (Figure C10) exist within the South East Queensland region Queensland Government Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel 2014a):
- Cressbrook Creek Alluvial
- Lockyer Valley
- Warrill Bremer Alluvial
- Watercourse Buffer Zone.
These are all located within the Moreton WRP area. They have yet to be included in the Moreton ROP. A model has been developed to estimate the groundwater asset in Implementation Area 1 of the Lockyer Valley GMA. Methods for calculating groundwater assets in the other GMAs in the South East Queensland region are still under investigation.
Figure C10 The groundwater management areas in the South East Queensland region
Environmental water management
Environmental water legislation
The Water Act covers water for the environment. WRPs are produced in accordance with the Water Act and must establish environmental flow objectives and ecological outcomes as well as consider environmental values listed in the Environmental Protection (Water) Policy 2009 (Queensland Government Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel 2014d).
Environmental water provisions
The environmental flow objectives in a WRP area are met through rules governing storage releases and limiting abstractions. Their aim is to retain various temporal flow characteristics at different nodes along rivers. Environmental top-up releases from storages are required to ensure that environmental flow objectives are met. The volume required for release will vary depending upon the environmental flow objectives and flow conditions. Various performance indicators are used for assessing environmental flow objectives as described in the 'Environmental notes'.
More details on specific environmental flow provisions can be found in the WRPs of Gold Coast, Logan and Moreton Basins (Queensland Government Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel 2014a, 2014b, 2014c).
Cultural water management
The South East Queensland Natural Resource Management Plan 2009–2031 (SEQ NRM Plan) emphasizes the recognition of traditional owners as natural resource managers (Queensland Government Department of Environment and Resource Management 2009a). The SEQ NRM Plan acknowledges the SEQ Traditional Owner Cultural Resource Management Plan and its targets and actions as an integral element of regional NRM planning.
The South East Queensland Traditional Owners Alliance (SEQTOA) incorporated in late 2005 was the peak body formed by traditional owner cultural groups in the South East Queensland region to represent and advance their interests in cultural and natural resource management. The primary aim of SEQTOA was to develop wider engagement of traditional owners in cultural and natural resource management. The traditional owner perspectives of SEQTOA were quoted as:
'Our rivers, creeks, wetlands and seas are powerful places, strong in spirit. They complement our traditional land resources. Their courses show the paths of creation beings. Water is the life sustainer. Wetlands gave our ancestors their main food supplies. Water signifies the female. Many sacred women's places including birthing places are close to running waters. Water is for cleansing and spiritual purification. Traditionally, we put no waste in water. Water is for drinking by people and by the animals and birds we live among. Water must be kept pure. Traditionally water courses were naturally formed by the water cycle, from rain to wetland and from stream to sea. Now watercourses are changed and directed by engineering (Queensland Government Department of Environment and Resource Management 2009b).'
Organisations responsible for water management
Seqwater provides water to local government water retailers. Organisations responsible for water management in the South East Queensland region are shown in Table C3.
The 2015 Account reports on the status of water management during the 2014–15 year. Organisational changes that occurred prior to or after the 2014–15 year are reported in the Significant water events section of the account.
| Organisation | Principal roles | Major storages managed by organisation |
Queensland Government Department of Environment and Heritage Protection | Manages the health of the environment to protect Queensland's unique ecosystems, including its landscapes and waterways as well as its native plants, animals and biodiversity. | None |
Queensland Government Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing | Manages national park, marine parks, forests, conservation parks, fish habitats, resource reserves and races. | None |
Queensland Government Department of Natural Resources and Mines | Manages through regulatory functions for the productive and responsible use of water, land, mineral and energy resources. | None |
Queensland Government Department of Energy and Water Supply | Delivers innovative policy, planning and regulatory solutions in partnership with stakeholders to support cost-effective, safe, secure and reliable energy and water supply; it has got two main service areas: a) energy and b) water supply and sewerage services. | None |
Queensland Government Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation | Develops and coordinates science and information and communication technology policy, whole-of-government approach on innovation, supports and invests in research and development, builds and diversifies arts and cultural sectors. | None |
Seqwater | Surface water storage manager | Hinze Bromelton Off-Stream Storage Cedar Grove Weir Enoggera Gold Creek Atkinson Clarendon Bill Gunn Lake KurwongbahLake Manchester Lake Maroon Lake Moogerah North Pine Somerset Wivenhoe Little Nerang Mount Crosby Weir Leslie Harrison Wyaralong |
Tarong Energy | Power generator | Splityard Creek |
Queensland Urban Utilities | Urban utility: retail | None |
Council of the City of Gold Coast | Urban utility: retail | None |
Logan City Council | Urban utility: retail | None |
Redland City Council | Urban utility: retail | None |
Unitywater | Urban utility: retail | None |
Toowoomba Regional Council | Urban utility: retail | Cressbrook Perseverance |
South Burnett Regional Council | Urban utility: retail | None |
Queensland Water Directorate (Qldwater) coordinates centralised provision of water data for almost all Queensland water management entities.
Organisations managing surface water and groundwater
Seqwater (Seqwater 2016b) is the resource operations licence (ROL) holder for all but one of the water supply schemes (WSSs) in the South East Queensland region. Toowoomba Regional Council is the ROL holder for the Cressbrook Creek WSS. ROL holders manage the surface water infrastructure associated with the WSS including reservoirs, dams and weirs within the scheme in accordance with the resource operations plan (ROP). ROL holders also administer the announced allocations within the WSS, calculating the announced allocation using the methodology stipulated in the ROP. ROL holders monitor water levels at various points within the WSS to ensure compliance with the ROP requirements. In addition to managing surface water storages within the WSS, Seqwater also manages a number of reservoirs, dams and weirs on watercourses outside of the WSS, mainly for the purpose of supplying the South East Queensland region with water from its unsupplemented licences for urban use.
Organisations managing urban water
Seqwater is a Queensland Government statutory authority responsible for ensuring a safe, secure and reliable bulk drinking water supply for the South East Queensland region as well as providing essential flood mitigation services (Seqwater 2016c). It manages more than $10 billion of water supply assets and the natural catchments of the region's major water supply sources. More than 600 km of reverse flow pipelines enables drinking water to be transported to where it is needed most from the Sunshine Coast to Greater Brisbane and to Redland and south of the City of Gold Coast.
Seqwater also manages recreation facilities that provide more than 50% of the green space in South East Queensland outside of national parks. They have a range of other obligations, such as the management of water quality in accordance with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines 2011.
Queensland Urban Utilities, Unitywater, Council of the City of Gold Coast, Logan City Council and the Redland City Council manage the water retail operations and also provide wastewater collection and treatment services for the relevant council areas (Figure C11).
Figure C11 Utility service areas in the South East Queensland region
Some areas of the South East Queensland region are not connected to the SEQ Water Grid and are instead provided with water and wastewater services by their local councils, such as part of Toowoomba Regional Council, and part of South Burnett Regional Council which receives water from Boondooma Reservoir located outside South East Queensland region.