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Linking people, the economy and the environment

Irrigation Australia Conference 3-5 June, 2014 (Gold Coast) . ABS – Accounting for Agricultural Water Use. Linking people, the economy and the environment. Steve May, Assistant Director, Environmental Accounts, ABS. Water brings us all together. Water brings us all together.

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Linking people, the economy and the environment

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  1. Irrigation Australia Conference 3-5 June, 2014 (Gold Coast) ABS – Accounting for Agricultural Water Use Linking people, the economy and the environment Steve May, Assistant Director, Environmental Accounts, ABS

  2. Water brings us all together

  3. Water brings us all together

  4. ABS Agricultural Survey program Annual survey (Census every 5 years) Survey frame – ATO-based business register Approximately 165,000 business units Units flagged as having both agricultural activity and an EVAO of > $5,000 Sample size – approximately 34,000 24-page form Up to 5 pages of water questions

  5. ABS Agricultural Survey Collection details The Agricultural Survey collects data for a wide range of agricultural commodities and land uses: Area of holding by land use Hay and silage (area and production) Cereal crops (area and production) Other non-cereal crops (including cotton, sugar cane) (area and production) Nurseries, cut flowers and cultivated turf (area) Vegetables harvested for human consumption and for seed (area and production) Fruit and nut trees, plantation and/or berry fruit (tree number or area and production) Cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry and other livestock numbers Agricultural land management practices; and Water use and expenditure

  6. ABS Agricultural SurveyData Outputs/Publications • Agricultural Commodities, Australia (ABS Cat. No. 7121.0) • Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia (cat. no. 7503.0) • Land Management and Farming in Australia (ABS cat. no. 4627.0) • Water Use on Australian Farms (ABS Cat. No. 4618.0)

  7. An important source of data for the agriculture inputs to Australia's National Accounts used extensively by ABARES, Department of Agriculture and state and territory agriculture departments WATER ACCOUNT, AUSTRALIA (cat. no. 4610.0) ABS Agricultural SurveyOther uses

  8. ABS Agricultural SurveySystems and Processes Sample design and stratification: single stage, stratified random sample designed to produce estimates for all agricultural commodities at the Australian, state/territory and broad regional levels (including Statistical Area 4 (SA4) and NRM (Natural Resource Management) regions sample is designed to maximise the quality of estimates for major commodities defined in terms of their importance to Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced (VACP)

  9. Water questions – every year: Water use (by crop/pasture type) Area irrigated (ha) Volume of water applied (ML) Water sources (ML) Water questions – less frequent: Irrigation tools Irrigation methods Changes to irrigation practices Irrigation expenditure and receipts On-farm water storage ABS Agricultural SurveyWater use questions

  10. IMPORTANT OUTPUTS for WATER DATA COLLECTED: Water Use on Australian Farms (cat. no. 4618.0) Gross Value of Irrigated Agricultural Production (cat. no. 4610.0.55.008) Water Account, Australia (cat. no. 4610.0) Supply Use Tables Agriculture chapter ABS Agricultural SurveyWater data - outputs

  11. Data producers and the water system – a simple view Social and Economic Environment Water Supply Industry Rainfall Legal restrictions to access Agriculture Surface water Mining manufacturing, industries Soil water Households Ground- water Sewerage Industry Seas and oceans E.g. Water, environment (including protection agencies), economic, regulatory, and statistical agencies E.g. Water, hydrological, meteorological, Geological agencies

  12. Many users and producers of water data • Government agencies responsible for: • Water, meteorology, hydrology, statistics, agriculture, environment, energy (especially hydro-power), planning, finance, geology • National, state/provincial or local government • Water suppliers and wastewater treatment • Water research organisations (e.g. government agencies, universities) • Non-government organisations (e.g. water industry associations, farmer associations, conservation groups, etc) • Investors (individual, public and private)

  13. Guidelines, standards and classifications for water data There are many examples of these: • Guide to Meteorological Instruments and Methods of Observation • Guidelines on the Role, Operation and Management of National Hydrological Services • System of Environmental and Economic Accounting – Water (SEEA Water) • International Recommendations for Water Statistics (IRWS) • International Benchmarking Network for Water and Sanitation Utilities • A System of Integrated Agricultural Censuses and Surveys • ISO (e.g. ISO 19115 for geographic information) • Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange (or SDMX) • World Meteorological Organisation Core Metadata Standard • Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) • Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking Water • MDG reporting standards (for water supply and sanitation)

  14. Terminology, concepts, definitions and classifications • Water data are used or produced by a wide range of professions and disciplines. • Each profession/discipline uses their own terminology, concepts and classifications and brings a particular world view. • Great potential for misunderstanding • Established terminology, concepts, definitions, classifications and systems are not easily changed • Need to work together to reach a common understanding

  15. Environmental-Economic Accounting Environmental accounts: • Help to make sense of the big picture • Help to identify pieces that are missing • Can make connections to other statistics, especially to economic statistics

  16. Role of Environmental Accounts Environmental (or environmental-economic) accounts are a tool to measure sustainability of economic behaviour. These accounts provide an integrated framework for consistent analysis of the contribution of the environment to the economy, and the impact of the economy on the environment.

  17. SEEA – the System of Environmental-Economic Accounts • A statistical framework that combined the System of National Accounts — an economic tool — with appropriate environmental and social indicators • Developed by the UN • SEEA-2012 adopted as an international standard at the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) in 2012 • environmental concerns to be integrated into mainstream economic reporting by member countries

  18. An Integrated Environmental-Economic Information Systemfor Australia Bio-physical Socio-economic researchers GovtDepts for Environment, Meteorology, Climate Change, Geoscience, Murray-Darling Basin, Agricultural Research, Scientific Research, Govt’s in general Treasury, ABS, Agricultural Research, Productivity Commission, PM&C, Resources, Energy and Tourism, Govt’s in general

  19. Integration of issues There has been a shift in policy focus away from considering the economy, society and the environment as separate issues, to a more integrated approach aimed at sustainable development. Accounting frameworks have the potential to link economic, social and environmental data, proving useful to structure economic statistics, and derive economic indicators.

  20. SEEA-Water: Strengths • It integrates water information with • Economic information from the SNA • Other environmental information via accounts (e.g. energy, land, forest, subsoil assets, pollution) • Brings diverse professions together (hydrologists, economists, engineers, government decision-makers and policy developers, statisticians, etc.) • Provides a complete system, so a wide variety of information and indicators can be produced over time

  21. SEEA-Water • Stocks and flows • Economy and environment • Volume and values

  22. Water Account Australia History • 1985 – Review of Australia’s Water Resources and Water Use (AWRC) • 1994 –COAG Water Reform Framework • 2000 – 1stWater Account Australia (ref period 1993-94 to 1996-97) • 2004 – 2ndWater Account Australia (ref period 2000-01) • 2004 – National Water Initiative • 2006 – 3rdWater Account Australia (ref period 2004-05) • 2007 – The Water Act 2007 • 2010 – 4thWater Account Australia (ref period 2008-09) – • 1st in a series of annual accounts • 2012 – SEEA adopted as international statistical standard • 2013 – ABS given official leadership role for SEEA-implementation in Australia

  23. Institutional arrangements • Water policy in Australia is supported by many government agencies (national and state level) • Water Act 2007 • Jurisdictional harmonisation (MDBA established) • Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder established • ACC enforces water charge and water market rules • BoM are given responsibility for water information functions including a National Water Account!!

  24. Water Accounting in Australia • Water Account Australia (ABS) • National Water Account (BOM) http://www.bom.gov.au/water/nwa/ • State Accounts, e.g. Victorian Water Account (DSE) http://www.water.vic.gov.au/monitoring/accounts Related information • Annual Climate Report (BOM) • AWRA (BOM) The BOM and Victoria accounts can be mapped to the SEEA

  25. Water Accounting in Australia “YOU COMPLETE ME”

  26. Water Account Australia What is in the publication?

  27. Water Account Australia Key users of the ABS Water Account Policy departments (e.g. Productivity Commission, Dept. of Environment) NWC Industry associations State govt Water Supply I ndustry Stakeholders Geoscience Aust BoM Data providers ABARES Researchers/ academics

  28. WaterAccount Australia - Data sources

  29. Issues / Uncertainties / Data Gaps Water Account Australia • Licence volumes Vs actual abstraction • Spatial referencing – economic data is related to enterprises and there can be poor spatial referencing • Data Gaps • Rain-fed agriculture • Household rainwater tanks • Discharges back to the environment (especially from irrigation run-off) • Environmental flows, environmental water holders

  30. Spatial dimensions Northern Territory Queensland Western Australia South Australia New South Wales Victoria • National • State and Territories • Drainage Divisions • River Basins (?) Tasmania

  31. ABS Water Accounts relatively new tool for policy makers and researchers Potential in decision-making and analysis yet to be fully realised Australian water accounts- policy applications

  32. Models developed to estimate the impact of increased water prices on water use in the southern MDB In short-term, demand for irrigation water unresponsive to water price In long term, respond by altering the crops they irrigate however, investment in on-farm water saving technology unlikely to be justified in terms of water saved. Australian water accounts – example of policy applications

  33. Assessing impact of restrictions of water availability in MDB Effect of population increase on Australian economy and price of water Australian industry – water use Input-output analyses Australian water accounts – examples of policy applications

  34. Australian water accounts – forecasting demand

  35. Water Account Australia Monetary vs. physical use of distributed water (% of total use) Value of water Volume of water 2008-09

  36. Water Account Australia Indices for water productivity, GVIAP and water consumption

  37. Water Account Australia Water consumption and water availability

  38. Water Account AustraliaArea Irrigated in Australia from 1920 to 2012

  39. Water Account Australia, 2011-12Queensland snapshot • Water consumption in Queensland was 3,375 GL in 2011-12, 21% of the Australian total water consumption and the second highest among the States and Territories • In Queensland the Gross State Product was $83 million per GL of water consumed. This was below the Australian average of $91 million per GL. • In 2011-12, the average price of water paid by Queensland households per kL of water was $2.95, the second highest in Australia. The average water price in Australia was $2.72 per kL. • Households consumed 346 GL of water in 2011-12, which was 10% of total water consumption for Queensland. Household water consumption per capita was 76 kL, increasing by 10% from 2010–11, the highest percentage increase of any State or Territory.

  40. Water Account Australia, 2011-12Queensland snapshot • The gross value of irrigated agricultural production (GVIAP) in Queensland was $3,570 million in 2011-12, an increase of $365 million or 11% from 2010-11. This was the largest increase of all States and Territories. • Queensland was the second highest consumer of reuse water of all the States and Territories in 2011-12 at 58 GL, which was 25% of total Australian reuse water consumed. • The Mining and Manufacturing industries consumed 171 GL (an increase of 36% from 2010-11) and 169 GL (an increase of 15%) of water respectively in 2011-12. • Total revenue from water sales and services in Queensland was $4,285 million, accounting for 27% of the Australian total in 2011-12, the highest among the States and Territories. • Queensland had the highest revenue from bulk water sales of all State and Territories, accounting for $1,235 million or 53% of the Australian total in 2011-12.

  41. Hot Off The Press! Water Use on Australian Farms, 2012-13 (Cat. No. 4618.0) was released last Friday

  42. Water Use on Australian Farms • All states and territories reported increased water use, except WA (down 4% to 320 thousand ML) and NT (down 13% to 50 thousand) • Murray-Darling Basin use increased 39% to 8.6 million ML (72% of the total)

  43. Water Use on Australian Farms • 93% (or 11.1 million ML) of water use was for irrigation - the remainder is for watering stock, washing out pens etc. • 43% of water on farms was sourced from irrigation channels - up 50% to 5.1 million ML • 16% (or 1.9 million ML) was sourced from groundwater

  44. Water Use on Australian Farms

  45. Water Use on Australian Farms

  46. Sources of Agricultural Water, Australia, year ended 30 June 2013

  47. Irrigated agriculture water consumption – MDB Vs Rest of Australia

  48. Area irrigated and water application rate, selected crops, 2002-03 and 2009-10

  49. Discussion and Questions Steve May Assistant Director, Environmental Accounts Section Australian Bureau of Statistics Steven.may@abs.gov.au

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