Stocks (assets)
Flows (benefits)

Volume of groundwater resources

Quality of environmental asset - Groundwater

Groundwater resources extracted

Groundwater resources extracted - monetary value

Units

Volume, e.g. megalitres (ML)

Example methods / guidance / references

What are tiers?

Tier 1

Estimate using own judgement and observations

Tier 2

Estimate using third-party professional estimates or public data

Tier 3

Model or measure based on site-specific surveys/sampling, remote or in-field sensing, laboratory analysis, etc.

Example data sources

Internal records

Third-party data sources

Data on aggregated surface water resources extracted for Australian river regions are available at the Bureau of Meteorology – National Water Account.

Site-specific measurements or model outputs

Notes

Work in progress - Feedback welcome

Units

Currency, e.g. A$

Example methods / guidance / references

What are tiers?

Tier 1

Multiply physical flow quantity by estimated monetary value per unit

Tier 2

Multiply physical flow quantity by estimated monetary value per unit

Tier 3

Multiply physical flow quantity by estimated monetary value per unit

Example data sources

Internal records

Third-party data sources

Site-specific measurements or model outputs

Notes

The value of the water resources asset (as opposed to the value of the physical flow of natural inputs from the asset) can be estimated based on the market price of similar water entitlements/offtake licences (where applicable), or estimated based on third-party valuation, less extraction costs.

Units

Various

Example methods / guidance / references

What are tiers?

Tier 1

Estimate using own judgement and observations

Tier 2

Estimate using third-party professional estimates or public data

Tier 3

Model or measure based on site-specific surveys/sampling, remote or in-field sensing, laboratory analysis, etc.

Example data sources

Internal records

Third-party data sources

Site-specific measurements or model outputs

Notes

Work in progress - Feedback welcome

Units

Various

Example methods / guidance / references

What are tiers?

Tier 1

Estimate using own judgement and observations

Tier 2

Estimate using third-party professional estimates or public data

Tier 3

Model or measure based on site-specific surveys/sampling, remote or in-field sensing, laboratory analysis, etc.

Example data sources

Internal records

Third-party data sources

Site-specific measurements or model outputs

Notes

Work in progress - Feedback welcome

Units

Various

Example methods / guidance / references

What are tiers?

Tier 1

Estimate using own judgement and observations

Tier 2

Estimate using third-party professional estimates or public data

Tier 3

Model or measure based on site-specific surveys/sampling, remote or in-field sensing, laboratory analysis, etc.

Example data sources

Internal records

Third-party data sources

Site-specific measurements or model outputs

Notes

Work in progress - Feedback welcome

Units

Volume, e.g. megalitres (ML)

Example methods / guidance / references

What are tiers?

Tier 1

Estimate using own judgement and observations

Tier 2

Estimate using third-party professional estimates or public data

Tier 3

Model or measure based on site-specific surveys/sampling, remote or in-field sensing, laboratory analysis, etc.

Example data sources

Internal records

Third-party data sources

Site-specific measurements or model outputs

Notes

Work in progress - Feedback welcome

Units

Currency, e.g. A$

Example methods / guidance / references

What are tiers?

Tier 1

Multiply physical flow quantity by estimated monetary value per unit

Tier 2

Multiply physical flow quantity by estimated monetary value per unit

Tier 3

Multiply physical flow quantity by estimated monetary value per unit

Example data sources

Internal records

Third-party data sources

Site-specific measurements or model outputs

Notes

Work in progress - Feedback welcome

Units

Volume, e.g. megalitres (ML)

Example methods / guidance / references

What are tiers?

Tier 1

Estimate using own judgement and observations

Tier 2

Estimate using third-party professional estimates or public data

Tier 3

Model or measure based on site-specific surveys/sampling, remote or in-field sensing, laboratory analysis, etc.

Example data sources

Internal records

Third-party data sources

Data on aggregated surface water resources extracted for Australian river regions are available at the Bureau of Meteorology – National Water Account.

Site-specific measurements or model outputs

Units

Currency, e.g. A$

Example methods / guidance / references

What are tiers?

Tier 1

Multiply physical flow quantity by estimated monetary value per unit

Tier 2

Multiply physical flow quantity by estimated monetary value per unit

Tier 3

Multiply physical flow quantity by estimated monetary value per unit

Example data sources

Internal records

Third-party data sources

Site-specific measurements or model outputs

Notes

The value of the water resources asset (as opposed to the value of the physical flow of natural inputs from the asset) can be estimated based on the market price of similar water entitlements/offtake licences (where applicable), or estimated based on third-party valuation, less extraction costs.

Units

Volume, e.g. megalitres (ML)

Example methods / guidance / references

What are tiers?

Tier 1

Estimate using own judgement and observations

Tier 2

Estimate using third-party professional estimates or public data

Tier 3

Model or measure based on site-specific surveys/sampling, remote or in-field sensing, laboratory analysis, etc.

Example data sources

Internal records

Third-party data sources

Data on volume of Australian groundwater resources are available at the Bureau of Meteorology – Australian Hydrological Geospatial Fabric (Geofabric).

Units

Volume, e.g. megalitres (ML)

Example methods / guidance / references

What are tiers?

Tier 1

Estimate using own judgement and observations

Tier 2

Estimate using third-party professional estimates or public data

Tier 3

Model or measure based on site-specific surveys/sampling, remote or in-field sensing, laboratory analysis, etc.

Example data sources

Internal records

Third-party data sources

Site-specific measurements or model outputs

Notes

“The concept of a stock of surface water is related to the quantity of water in a territory of reference measured at a specific point in time (usually the beginning or end of the accounting period). The stock level of a river is measured as the volume of the active riverbed determined on the basis of the geographical profile of the riverbed and the water level. This quantity is usually very small compared with the total stock of water resources and the annual flows of rivers.” (SEEA-CF, para. 5.483). The same principles apply to groundwater and soil water. The main additions to the stock of water resources come from returns (the opposite of abstraction), precipitation, and inflows. The main reductions in the stock of water resources come from abstraction, evaporation/evapotranspiration and outflows.

Units

Volume, e.g. megalitres (ML)

Example methods / guidance / references

What are tiers?

Tier 1

Estimate using own judgement and observations

Tier 2

Estimate using third-party professional estimates or public data

Tier 3

Model or measure based on site-specific surveys/sampling, remote or in-field sensing, laboratory analysis, etc.

Example data sources

Internal records

Third-party data sources

Maps showing volume of surface water resources in over 300 publicly-owned Australian water storages are available at the Bureau of Meteorology – Water Data Online (select Parameter: Storage Volume).

Site-specific measurements or model outputs

Data on volume of Australian surface water resources are available at the Bureau of Meteorology – Australian Hydrological Geospatial Fabric (Geofabric).

Notes

“The concept of a stock of surface water is related to the quantity of water in a territory of reference measured at a specific point in time (usually the beginning or end of the accounting period). The stock level of a river is measured as the volume of the active riverbed determined on the basis of the geographical profile of the riverbed and the water level. This quantity is usually very small compared with the total stock of water resources and the annual flows of rivers.” (SEEA-CF, para. 5.483). The same principles apply to groundwater and soil water. The main additions to the stock of water resources come from returns (the opposite of abstraction), precipitation, and inflows. The main reductions in the stock of water resources come from abstraction, evaporation/evapotranspiration and outflows.