1. Overview of Water Planning in
Queensland
Kaylene Power
Acting Principal Planning and Policy Officer,
Water Allocation and Planning
Department of Environment and Resource Management
Brisbane, Queensland – 23 February 2011

2. Previous Water Management Arrangements
In the past, new water development proposals (public and
private) were:
assessed incrementally over time;
generally only assessed in terms of local impacts.
Problems with the old management system:
basin-wide impacts were not considered;
water entitlements were effectively eroded over time;
each decision was open to legal challenge;
water entitlement tied to land and could only be traded with the
land;
no explicit environmental provisions.

3. State’s Responsibility for Water Planning
In Australia, State Governments
have the responsibility for
managing water and other
resources;
The rights to water are vested in
the State under the Water Act
2000;
An entitlement under the Water
Act is required for taking &
storing water associated with
watercourses;
In designated areas, groundwater
and overland flow (flood water) is
managed through licences.

4. The Water Act requires the Department to:
Plan for the allocation and sustainable
management of water to meet
Queensland’s future water requirements,
including for the protection of natural
ecosystems and security of supply for
water users.

5. Types of water entitlements under the Water Act
Water licences
Attached to land
Granted for up to 10 years (up to 20 years for stock and domestic)
Need to be renewed
Water allocations
Separate from land with separate title
Tradable
In perpetuity (do not need to be renewed)
Some other water authorisations:
Water permits (temporary - foreseeable end date required)
Resource operations licences & distribution operations licences
(infrastructure/water supply scheme authorisations)

6. Water Resource Planning
Since the Water Act was enacted, approach to
allocating and managing water has focused on a
Water Resource Planning process, which:
applies to a whole river catchment or groundwater basin;
triggers arrangements for managing overland flow and
groundwater ;
shares the water resources between human and environmental
needs;
is developed with community consultation;
initialises and supports trading of water entitlements; and
protects non-consumptive values including cultural and
environmental.

7. Water Resource Planning cont’d
Under the Water Act (2000), there is a two part water planning
process:
Part (1) Water Resource Plan (WRP)
strategic framework for allocating and managing water;
prepared by the Minister for Water;
Part (2) Resource Operations Plan (ROP)
implements the framework and details day-to-day rules for
managing an area’s water resources.
prepared by the Chief Executive of the Department.

8. Water Resource Planning Process
Technical Assessments, Data Auditing &
Hydrology Modelling
Release of background info in Information
Paper & Tech Reports Monitoring, assessment, reporting
and 10 year review
Consultation with Community Reference
Panel during development of draft WRP
Public consultation on and review of draft
WRP
Plan Approval by Government and WRP, ROP & associated
Implementation through a ROP
decision support systems

9. Water Resource Plans
State outcomes establishing the balance between water made
available for consumption and water retained in the river.
Contain strategies for achieving these including environmental
flow objectives and water allocation security objectives.
Include criteria for preparing Resource Operations Plans in
each part of a catchment (re. licence conversions, water
sharing rules, water trading rules).
May include requirements for the allocation and management of
overland flow and groundwater.

10. Resource Operations Plans
Convert existing water licences to tradable water allocations:
Clearly specified volume, location of take, purpose and priority
group.
Records ownership on a Water Allocation Register similar to the
State’s Land Titles system;
Allows banks and others to register their interest in the title through
a mortgage;
Contain water sharing rules and trading rules (permanent and
seasonal);
Contain rules for the granting of any new water entitlements;
Specify water infrastructure operating and environmental
management rules;
Detail future monitoring & reporting requirements;

11. Tradable Water Allocations
Establishment of tradable water allocations provides the opportunity for
water to move to high value uses;
Trading is an incentive for higher efficiency and high value use;
The trading rules (specified in the Resource Operations Plan) are
based on hydrological and physical limitations as well as social and
economic considerations,
Water allocations held and dealt with under a titling system similar to
that used to record land titles;
Water allocations may be bought, sold and bequeathed (just like land).
To date more than 10,000 tradable water allocations valued at
estimated $2.0 billion have been established in the Water Allocation
Register.

12. Technical reports
Hydrology
Social and Economic Assessment
Groundwater
Overland Flow
Environmental Condition Assessment
Traditional Owner

13. Hydrologic Modelling
• Performs a water balance across a whole river-basin
• Simulates flows, losses, water use etc. for a historical test period
• Involves substantial collection & checking of data
• Models are typically balanced daily for up to 100 years
• Each model run balance may produce the equivalent of 88,000 pages of output!
• Post-processes produce reports of key statistical outputs
Inflow Rainfall
Evaporation
Overflows
Environmental Requirements
Storage
Downstream Water Use
Water Use
(TWS, Irrigation)
Seepage

14. • processes (nodes)
dam
• connect processes (links)
1300 ML/a
40 ha • calibrate a flow simulation
Town 1600 ML/a
60 ha
6000 ML/a model based on a period of
1100 ML/a 150 ML ofs
recorded flows and use
500 ML ofs
300 ML ofs
inflows 400 ML ofs
Regulated - irrigation
Basin boundary
Regulated - water harvesting
Unregulated - irrigation
Unregulated - water harvesting

15. Model Cases, Options & Scenarios
Calibration Case (Measured vs Simulated)
Undeveloped Case
Existing Development Case
Environmental Flow Management Strategies
Future Water Allocation Scenarios
Models will ultimately provide decision support systems for
implementing the Plans by:-
Assessing impacts of proposed trades
Assessing impacts of issuing new licences
Assessing impacts of proposed developments
Testing different operational strategies

16. How are results used?
Compare predicted long-term flow-regime impacts and assess
potential ecological impacts
Determine water resource plan objectives
Environmental flow objectives (EFOs)
Water allocation security objectives (WASOs)
Decision-making tool
Model can be used to assess compliance with objectives

17. Dealing with Climate Change and Climate
Variability
Queensland’s water resource planning framework employs the following
strategies for dealing with climate change and climate variability:
Adaptive management:
monitoring water availability, water use and natural ecosystems;
regular reporting and review of plan outcomes; and
mandatory 10-yearly water resource plan reviews.
Water sharing arrangements:
to identify water available for consumptive needs as well as the
environmental flow patterns necessary to maintain natural
ecosystems;
based on long-term yields assessed against natural pre-development
flow patterns
Hydrological modelling:
using simulation periods of typically around 100 years, which captures
historical climate variability;
regularly updated with recorded water use and streamflow data.

18. Progress in Developing Water Resource Plans
and Resource Operations Plans
Water Resource
Plans are in place
for 22 areas
covering 93% of
Qld.
Resource
Operations Plans
are in place for 18
of these 22 areas.

19. Thank you!
Questions?