Measuring up to manage water better NatStats Conference 08 Melbourne 21 November 2008

1. Measuring up to manage water better NatStats Conference 08 Melbourne 21 November 2008

2. Growing Urban Demand Over-allocation to Irrigation Drying & Warming Climate The big 8 water scarcity factors Expanding Plantations Uncapped Groundwater Extraction Bushfire Recovery Impacts Expanding Farm Dams The Environmental Flows Imperative Water scarcity: A deepening problem.

3. Long term deficits remain across the MDB 7 very dry years for the basin

4. Recent inflows into the Murray system.

5. Irrigation System Allocations @ Nov08.

6. Information to support water reform. Judicious infrastructure investments Adequate flood risk protection Properly functioning water markets Good water information is the key Prudent environmental flow management Greater efficiency in water use Fair pricing and equitable sharing of a scarce resource

7. National Water Accounting. National Water Resource Assessment. The four cornerstones of water information to support sustainable water resources management. Real-Time Status of Water Resources. Hydrologic Forecasting.

8. The Bureau’s new water information role. • 10-year Commonwealth program, started July 07 • $450m funding • 110 new staff (added to 40 existing) • Based in all States, concentrated in VIC and ACT • New IT infrastructure • Legislative backing • Water Act 2007 • Water Regulations 2008

9. Our activities. • Set standards for water data. • Collect primary information from water data holders and build a national repository. • Provide a range of value-added water information products and services for the nation. • Assist water data holding agencies to modernise their observing systems. • Invest in water information R&D.

10. Our water information product suite.

11. Provider data Information products AWRIS Climate DB Dynamic Streamflow REPORTING SERVICES Diversions Browser, RSS, XML Groundwater FORECASTING SERVICES Water quality Water Data Geofabric Static NATIONAL WATER ACCOUNT Storage Water use Rolling annual reports NATIONAL WATER RESOURCE ASSESSMENT Entitlements and Trades Hydro DB Various spatial data layers

12. The water data ingest process. Oct 08 Feb 09 Apr 09 Jul 09 • 10 primary categories of data (~60 variables) • 8 categories of person (~260 persons in total) • Entire historical archive provided at first • Updated thereafter daily, weekly, monthly or yearly • Considerable augmentation by BoM required

13. The Australian Hydrological Geospatial Fabric (aka ‘the geofabric’) A spatial representation of most of Australia’s hydrofeatures and their connectivity • Rivers, Lakes, Wetlands, Reservoirs • Catchment, aquifer and management area boundaries • Water monitoring points • Diversions, off-takes, return points • Arranged in a network topology

14. The National Water Account. Questions: System status (Stocks and flows) For any reporting unit (system)…. • How did the stocks of water change? • How much was allocated and delivered? • How much water was traded? • What was the consumptive/environment split? • How much was lost? • How did entitlement security change?

15. The National Water Account. Questions: Information trustworthiness For a report prepared by any entity … • How can we be sure the information is correct and comparable to other reports? • What uncertainties are inherent in the report? • What contextual issues are relevant? • climate • demand • management (restrictions, allocations)

16. Water Accounting Definition of Terms. Water Assets • Water or rights or other claims to water, which the reporting entity holds or has management responsibilities for and from which stakeholders derive future benefits, e.g. stores in dams or rivers if the reporting entity is a catchment; allocation if the reporting entity is a water user Water Liabilities • A present obligation of the water reporting entity, the discharge of which is expected to result in a decrease in their water assets, e.g. announced allocation if the reporting entity is a catchment

17. Contents of the National Water Account. Contextual Statement Statement of Changes in Water Assets and Water Liabilities Statement of Water Assets and Liabilities Statement of Physical Flows Disclosure Notes Accountability Statement Assurance Statement

18. Possible Reporting Entities. Nation State Catchment Priority Areas Planning Areas Supply Scheme

19. Scaling the National Water Account. National Water Account Cascading down Consolidated up Sub-national Water Accounts Sub-sub-national Water Accounts

20. Governance and Coordination. Advice Governance Actions Publication of National Water Account Water Accounting Standards Board Bureau of Meteorology Preparation of sub-national accounts Water Use Estimation Advisory Group Publication of National Water Accounting Standards National Water Account Committee

21. Challenges and opportunities. • Getting the job done! • Links to other accounts • water in the economy • environmental accounts • Data standards for interoperability • Data mining techniques • Data survey methods

22. Contacts for the Bureau’s Water Division. Rob Vertessy (Division Head) r.vertessy@bom.gov.au 02 6232 3501 Peter Gigliotti (IT Development) p.gigliotti@bom.gov.au 03 9669 4255 Tony Boston (Data Management) t.boston@bom.gov.au 02 6232 3503 Louise Minty (Water Accounting and Assessment) l.minty@bom.gov.au 03 9669 4542 Bruce Stewart (Hydrologic Forecasting) b.stewart@bom.gov.au 03 8638 8203