Water sector

Informing water decisions in Australia

Water is a critical resource for Australia. To support the water sector, we:

• facilitate national collaboration, including working with states, territories and First Nations groups
• provide open access to Australia's water data, including collating and publishing national data
• support agencies, businesses and the community to understand, interrogate and use water data
• deliver world-class standards for water information, hydroclimate and water data.

Our expertise helps improve understanding of water availability – now and in future, for communities, businesses and the environment.

We collect, manage and share Australia's water information under the Water Act 2007 and the Water Regulations 2008. For details of the vision and priorities informing our water information functions, see our Statement of Ambition 2023–28 (PDF, 2.96 MB).

For an overview of Australian water data, forecasts and market information, view our Water information page.

Data services for the water sector

Our comprehensive data services help you:

• make the right decisions at the right time
• understand decisions about water that affect your organisation.

You can rely on us for timely and accurate weather, water and climate data. Many of our products can integrate with your systems for analysis.

Information for the water sector includes:

• water outlooks and hydro-climate projections
• Australia-wide soil moisture estimates
• daily, weekly and seasonal streamflow forecasts
• near real time water accounting as part of Murray–Darling Basin water information
• surface water and groundwater information
• long-range weather and climate forecasts
• other water data, forecasts, analyses and publications.

You'll find water information on our current website – we're still building this new one.

National water reform

National Water Agreement

We support the outcomes and objectives of the National Water Agreement. It seeks to:

• ensure sustainable water planning in a changing climate
• strengthen influence for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
• bring a nationally consistent approach to water reforms.

The agreement balances water management with existing water access rights. For more information about the agreement, visit the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water website.

Water market standards and systems

To give water users in the Murray-Darling Basin the market information they need, we are developing water market data standards and systems. These will support reporting under the Australian Government water market reforms. For details, view our Water market reforms page.

National performance reporting resources

Water and wastewater service providers report to us on a yearly basis. They provide data on the status of water for cities and some towns. We provide resources to support national performance reporting in water supply services.

Supporting national collaboration

We help identify and deliver nation-scale improvements in the water sector. We drive initiatives, drawing on skills from government and non-government partners. Some of this work happens through national committees and reference groups, including:

• the National Water Committee, and sub-committee on climate change (chaired by the Bureau)
• Urban Water Reform Committee
• One Basin Cooperative Research Centre
• other Water Act agencies and sector partners.

We also host several information-sharing groups and committees with water agencies across Australia. These include the:

• Jurisdictional Reference Group for Water Information
• Water Monitoring Standardisation Technical Committee.

To engage with these groups, contact us.

Ministerial statement of expectations

The Minister for the Environment and Water has issued a statement outlining the Australian Government’s expectations of the Bureau’s organisational performance as Australia's regulator for water data and information.

View the statement and the Bureau's response – the regulatory statement of intent – on our Commitments and reporting page.