The Little Swanport Water Accounts

Abstract

The task at hand for this chapter is to present an appropriate water accounting framework for the Little Swanport catchment and to populate this framework with data where available or where they are capable of being estimated from related or proxy statistics. This water accounting research has been moulded around the water cycle within Little Swanport catchment and is undertaken in order to understand and measure the flows and interactions of water in the catchment, extending to its estuary. As discussed, water accounting is undergoing fervent developmental efforts in a diversity of institutions, and the state-of-the-art will evolve rapidly over the next decade. The framework we have developed is offered as a step to aid this process and to help address the more immediate short-term concerns and pressures for socially efficient decision-making about managing water resources. One of the main benefits from water accounts when they are capable of being matched against broader socio-economic information systems is their contribution to water budgeting. This means that, where all costs and benefits are included, water can be put to uses that have the best economic outcomes for society.