National Water Account 2015

South East Queensland: Water accounting policies

Wivenhoe Lake, South East Queensland (© Bureau of Meteorology, H. Rahman)

Introduction

The information presented in the South East Queensland region report is based on collaboration between the Bureau of Meteorology (Bureau) and:

  • Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines
  • Queensland Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation
  • Seqwater
  • Council of the City of Gold Coast
  • Logan City Council
  • Queensland Urban Utilities (QUU)
  • Redland City Council
  • South Burnett Regional Council
  • Toowoomba Regional Council
  • Qldwater
  • Unitywater.

This report has been prepared using an accrual basis of water accounting, with the exception of the physical water flow information. The water attribute being quantified is volume, and the unit of account is megalitres (ML). Where a reported volume is negative, it is shown in brackets. The applicable reporting period is from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015.

 

Recognition of water assets and water liabilities

Only water that is held or managed by the State licensing authority or the urban utilities and which is  a part of the entitlement system is defined as a water asset. Provided its volume can be quantified in a way that is complete, neutral, and free from material error, the volume of the water asset or water liability is recognised in the Statement of Water Assets and Water Liabilities.

Water liabilities are constituted by present commitments to supply water, the discharge of which is expected to result in a probable decrease of the region's water assets or a probable increase in another water commitment to supply water.

Water held in storages that has already been abstracted from the entitlement system is deemed not to be part of the region (regardless of the storage's size or connection to the system). This is because the attendant water right has already been exercised.

 

Recognition of changes in water assets and water liabilities

The increases and decreases to the reported water assets and water liabilities consist of changes that can be quantified in a way that is complete, neutral and free from material error. These volumes are presented in the Statement of Changes in Water Assets and Water Liabilities and the Statement of Water Flows.

Precipitation and evaporation are recognised only in relation to the surfaces of open storage volumes. They do not represent all precipitation, evaporation and evapotranspiration within the region (notably, these processes occurring from the landscape are not captured).

That portion of runoff that flows into the surface water store (storages and rivers) is quantified and recognised on the Statement of Changes in Water Assets and Water Liabilities. This runoff includes precipitation captured in the catchment, less evaporation and infiltration, and is recorded as Runoff to surface water.

Allocations announced on regulated (supplemented) entitlements have been recognised as increases in water liabilities. Note that the definition of regulated or unregulated entitlements for the purpose of the National Water  Account (refer to 'Glossary') may be different to the meaning applied by the jurisdiction. Please refer to the Water rights, entitlements, allocations and restrictions note for more information on the allocations.

 

Water assets and water liabilities that fail the recognition criteria

The volumes of several water assets and water liabilities identified in the South East Queensland region were not recognised in the water accounting statements but replaced by dashes (–) as they 'failed the recognition criteria' specified in the Australian Water Accounting Standard 1 (Bureau 2012), because:

  • they could not be quantified in a way that is complete, neutral, and free from material error
  • they were unlikely to provide a future benefit to the region or the region's stakeholders.

Water assets that failed the recognition criteria include rivers, lakes and wetlands (see Surface water note), groundwater underlying aquifers (see Groundwater note).

 

Changes to water assets and water liabilities that fail the recognition criteria

There are no items to report under this category.

 

Restatement of comparative information

In accordance with the Australian Water Accounting Standard 1 (Bureau 2012), comparative year volumes must be restated in the statements if there is a prior period error or a change in item presentation. Comparative year volumes are not required to be restated if there is a change in scope or methodology or subsequent data availability for the quantification of an item.

The following comparative year volumes in the water accounting statements were restated from the 2014 Account due to prior period errors:

The first and the last restatements in the above list have been made to correct data translation errors in estimating volumes for the 2014 Account.  'Discharge: sea' volume was restated to account the volumes discharged from waste water treatment plants to estuaries. In the 2014 Account, these volumes were accounted as discharges to rivers. The other two restatements were a result of not accommodating the changes made in the carryover estimation process by the reporting partner in the 2014 Account.

The following comparative year volumes in the water accounting statements were restated from the 2014 Account due to changes in presentation:

These changes separated water flows to and from the urban water supply system from flows to and from the wastewater and recycled water systems, providing clearer information to users of the National Water Account.

The changes associated with prior period errors and changes in presentation are summarised in Table N1.

 

Table N1 Changes in item volumes from the 2014 Account
ItemRevised 2014 volume in 2015 Account
ML		Published volume in 2014 Account
ML
Prior period error  
Urban supply system4,4864,742
Allocation remaining: individual users012,153
Adjustment and forfeiture: individual users79,46167,308
Discharge: sea162,979138,628
Discharge: landscape1,4681,527
Changes in presentation  
Supply system transfer: inter-region103,120
Wastewater and recycled water system transfer: inter-region3,1100
Other supply system decreases3,3063,493
Other wastewater and recycled water system decreases1870
Supply system delivery: urban users239,298263,380
Recycled water delivery: urban users24,1410

 

Transactions within the region

Transactions between water assets and water liabilities within the region (e.g. between the surface water store and the groundwater store) are not reported in the water accounting statements because they do not affect the region's total water assets and water liabilities.

This information is reported in the Water resources and systems note, which contains water accounting statements for each water store. These contain internal transactions that were excluded from the consolidated water accounting statements. This ensures that transactions between water assets and water liabilities within the region are still reported.