4610.0.55.003 - Water Access Entitlements, Allocations and Trading, 2004-05  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 13/10/2006  First Issue
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Introduction
Acknowledgement
Inquiries
Summary Commentary

INTRODUCTION

Water access entitlements, allocations and trading have been key elements of recent water reforms in Australia. Achieving nationally-compatible water access entitlements, returning over-allocated systems to environmentally-sustainable levels of extraction, and removing barriers to trade in water to facilitate the broadening and deepening of the water market are all objectives of the 2004 Intergovernmental Agreement on a National Water Initiative (NWI) .

This publication presents data on the number of water access entitlements, the volume of water allocated to water access entitlements, and water trading in Australia in 2004-05. All data have been provided by the relevant Government agencies in each State and Territory, or obtained from publicly available sources. This is the first publication to collate and present this information for the whole of Australia and will form part of the publication Water Account, Australia, 2004-05 (ABS Cat. No. 4610.0).

Because of differences in terminology, legislative arrangements and administrative systems, the data need to be interpreted with caution, particularly when making comparisons between jurisdictions. Please refer to Chapter 1 and the Explanatory Notes for further information. A key element of the NWI is to achieve greater consistency in this type of information. The ABS is working with relevant agencies in this regard.

As this is the first time the ABS has presented information on water access entitlements, allocation and trading, the ABS welcomes feedback in terms of its relevance, usefulness, quality and range of data presented. Please send any comments to the Director, Centre of Environment and Energy Statistics, Locked Bag 10, Belconnen, ACT 2616, or phone (02) 6252 7348.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) compiled the data contained in this publication as part of the Australian Water Resources 2005 (AWR2005) , a project funded by the National Water Commission (NWC). The ABS wishes to acknowledge the contribution from the relevant Government agencies in each State and Territory that provided data for this publication. Without the contributions of the NWC and the State and Territory agencies, this publication would not have been possible.

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.


SUMMARY COMMENTARY

Water Access Entitlements and Allocations

In 2004-05, there were 223,556 water access entitlements in Australia with a total entitlement volume of 29,831 GL (Table 2.1). New South Wales had the highest number of water access entitlements in Australia, with 118,110 (or 53%) of the total water access entitlements in Australia. New South Wales also had the highest entitlement volume in Australia in 2004-05, with 13,302 GL (or 45%) of the total entitlement volume.

Surface water access entitlements accounted for 76,625 (or 34%) of all water access entitlements and 22,814 GL (or 76%) of the total entitlement volume in Australia (Table 2.2). Groundwater access entitlements accounted for 146,185 (or 65%) of all water access entitlements and 6,998 GL (or 23%) of the total water allocated in Australia. In South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, water access entitlements that allowed access to both surface and groundwater sources also existed. These accounted for an extremely small percentage of the number and volume of all water access entitlements (0.3% and 0.1% respectively).

2.1 WATER ACCESS ENTITLEMENTS AND ALLOCATIONS - 2004-05

Number of entitlements
Entitlement volume
Allocated volume
no.
ML
ML
NSW(a)
118,110
13,301,851
9,798,575
Vic.(b)
25,514
6,680,334
4,733,845
Qld(c)
48,591
4,397,481
na
SA
10,399
1,660,584
1,660,584
WA
17,513
2,546,643
2,546,643
Tas.
3,110
1,038,419
1,038,419
NT
166
139,959
139,959
ACT
153
66,150
66,150
Australia
223,556
29,831,421
na
        na not available
        (a) Maximum available water has been used for allocated volume in New South Wales
        (b) Volume taken has been used as a proxy for allocated volume in Victoria
        (c) Excludes 1,931 water licences without a volumetric entitlement volume in Queensland


2.2 WATER ACCESS ENTITLEMENTS AND ALLOCATIONS, by water source - 2004-05

SURFACE WATER
GROUNDWATER
SURFACE AND GROUNDWATER(a)
Number of entitlements
Entitlement volume
Allocated volume
Number of entitlements
Entitlement volume
Allocated volume
Number of entitlements
Entitlement volume
Allocated volume
no.
ML
ML
no.
ML
ML
no.
ML
ML
NSW(b)
24,694
10,644,024
7,135,637
93,416
2,657,827
2,662,938
-
-
-
Vic.(c)
17,030
5,827,960
4,370,300
8,484
852,374
363,545
-
-
-
Qld(d)
27,336
3,488,495
na
21,255
908,986
na
-
-
-
SA
3,486
789,057
789,057
6,179
854,296
854,296
734
17,232
17,232
WA
878
902,500
902,500
16,635
1,644,143
1,644,143
-
-
-
Tas.
3,110
1,038,419
1,038,419
-
-
-
-
-
-
NT
64
59,832
59,832
102
80,127
80,127
-
-
-
ACT
27
64,154
64,154
114
660
660
12
1,336
1,336
Australia
76,625
22,814,441
na
146,185
6,998,412
na
746
18,568
18,568
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
na not available
(a) Water access entitlements that allow the holder to access both surface and groundwater sources
(b) Maximum available water has been used for allocated volume in New South Wales
(c) Volume taken has been used as a proxy for allocated volume in Victoria
(d) Excludes 1,931 water licences without a volumetric entitlement volume in Queensland


Water Trading

In 2004-05, 1,802 permanent and 13,456 temporary water trades were conducted in Australia with 248 GL of water traded permanently and 1,053 GL of water traded temporarily (Tables 3.1 and 3.2). The highest number of permanent (702) and temporary (9,323) water trades were conducted in Victoria. Victoria also had the highest volume of water temporarily traded in Australia with 444 GL. The highest volume of water traded permanently occurred in Western Australia with 63 GL.

3.1 PERMANENT WATER TRADING - 2004-05

WATER TRADED WITHIN
WATER TRADED INTO
WATER TRADED OUT
TOTAL WATER TRADED(a)
AVERAGE PRICE
no.
ML
no.
ML
no.
ML
no.
ML
$/ML
NSW
154
40,846
10
436
-
-
164
41,282
na
Vic.
656
52,175
-
-
46
5,214
702
57,389
na
Qld
168
20,285
-
-
-
-
168
20,285
1,750
SA
328
28,643
36
4,778
-
-
364
33,421
na
WA
218
62,810
-
-
-
-
218
62,810
680
Tas.
232
37,603
-
-
-
-
232
37,603
na
NT
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
ACT
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Australia
1,756
242,362
46
5,214
46
5,214
1,802
247,576
na
    - nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
    na not available
    (a) Total for Australia cannot be calculated by taking the sum of the States and Territories as this would double count interstate trades

3.2 TEMPORARY WATER TRADING - 2004-05

WATER TRADED WITHIN
WATER TRADED INTO
WATER TRADED OUT
TOTAL WATER TRADED(a)
AVERAGE PRICE
no.
ML
no.
ML
no.
ML
no.
ML
$/ML
NSW
1,739
316,506
117
37,848
186
28,196
2,042
382,550
96
Vic.
9,042
396,723
179
19,259
102
28,281
9,323
444,263
na
Qld
1,874
194,195
-
-
-
-
1,874
194,195
na
SA
314
49,525
72
24,560
80
25,190
314
49,525
na
WA
8
8,617
-
-
-
-
8
8,617
80
Tas.
111
5,601
-
-
-
-
111
5,601
na
NT
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
ACT
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Australia
13,088
971,168
368
81,667
368
81,667
13,456
1,052,834
na
    - nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
    na not available
    (a) Total for Australia cannot be calculated by taking the sum of the States and Territories as this would double count interstate trades