Measuring up to manage water better NatStats Conference 08 Melbourne 21 November 2008 Water scarcity: A deepening problem. Drying & Warming Climate Growing Urban Demand Over-allocation to Irrigation The big 8 Uncapped Groundwater Extraction water scarcity factors Expanding Plantations Bushfire Recovery Impacts Expanding Farm Dams The Environmental Flows Imperative Long term deficits remain across the MDB 7 very dry years for the basin Recent inflows into the Murray system. Irrigation System Allocations @ Nov08. Information to support water reform. Judicious infrastructure investments Properly functioning water markets Greater efficiency in water use Good water information is the key Adequate flood risk protection Prudent environmental flow management Fair pricing and equitable sharing of a scarce resource National Water Resource Assessment. National Water Accounting. The four cornerstones of water information to support sustainable water resources management. Hydrologic Forecasting. Real-Time Status of Water Resources. 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 Our activities. 1. Set standards for water data. 2. Collect primary information from water data holders and build a national repository. 3. Provide a range of value-added water information products and services for the nation. 4. Assist water data holding agencies to modernise their observing systems. 5. Invest in water information R&D. Our water information product suite. National Water Account Water Resource Assessments Flood Design Support Water Availability Forecasts AWRIS Water Data Downloads Flood Forecasting Service Water Resources Dashboards Provider data AWRIS Information products Streamflow Dynamic Diversions Climate DB Groundwater REPORTING SERVICES Browser, RSS, XML Water quality FORECASTING SERVICES Storage Water use Water Data Geofabric NATIONAL WATER ACCOUNT Entitlements and Trades Various spatial data layers Static Hydro DB Rolling annual reports NATIONAL WATER RESOURCE ASSESSMENT 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 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 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? 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) 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 Contents of the National Water Account. Statement of Changes in Statement of Contextual Water Assets Water Statement Statement of andAssets Disclosure Water andPhysical Accountability Flows Notes Assurance Liabilities Liabilities Statement Statement Possible Reporting Entities. Nation State Catchment Priority Areas Planning Areas Supply Scheme Scaling the National Water Account. National Water Account Consolidated up Cascading down Sub-national Water Accounts Sub-sub-national Water Accounts Governance and Coordination. Advice Governance Actions Publication of National Water Account Water Accounting Standards Board Bureau of Meteorology Preparation of subnational accounts National Water Account Committee Publication of National Water Accounting Standards Water Use Estimation Advisory Group 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 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