Engagement

A. Allocations are considered continuously, until there is a full allocation provided to all categories in a water source. The assessment and allocation process is an ongoing one, either fortnightly or monthly, depending on the system.

As most high-priority categories of licences received a full allocation on 1 July 2022, there is no further assessment required for those licence categories.

An allocation announcement is made without consultation as:

1. There is market sensitivity. Consulting with any one person or group may be seen to be giving an advantage in the water market.
2. We have very little discretion about how the numbers fall and the announcement that is required to be made.

Once an announcement has been made public (advised), usually in conjunction with a water allocation statement, staff are able to explain the basis for the allocation in the context of the statutory water sharing plan rules.

Water allocation statements for the current year and past six years can be accessed below. If you require historical information, browse the NSW Water Register or the water documents archive portal.

A. Availability is dependent on conditions. Although we cannot predict future conditions, there are currently good supplies of water captured in storage. This provides some confidence of good water availability for the coming year. As mentioned in the Roundup webinar, water availability is currently about as good as it gets.

A. States have sovereignty for water management under the Australian Constitution. NSW and the other states have set up their own water management frameworks, which include licensing and water sharing arrangements. NSW has a particular design. Victoria have set up a different system. It's important to recognise that the NSW system has been designed particularly around annual cropping while the Victorian system is largely designed around perennial cropping or permanent plantings. In NSW we take more risk in allocating water, on the understanding that when we run out of water, which is often before Victoria, we can no longer plant those annual crops until water availability improves. In contrast, Victoria, with more permanent plantings, is more conservative with their allocations because they can't afford to not supply water to the permanent plantings of vines, orchards, and nut plantations.

When water availability is limited or when we are introducing new projects or shared rules, there is a lot of interaction and negotiation and support that we provide, particularly in dry periods.

We do not have a lot to do with the ACT, it largely has its own water storages for the population that it supports. There is not a lot of large irrigation within the ACT; it’s primarily focused on urban water supply. We are engaging with the ACT, and similarly with Queensland on the northern border. However, it is the southern connected basin, and Victoria, where up to 70% or more of water usage, trade activity and water management takes place.

For more information How water is allocated - Water in New South Wales (nsw.gov.au)

A. Wet conditions have continued to prevail, resulting in all unregulated river licences being allocated 100% of entitlement on 1 July 2022 and all higher priority licences in regulated rivers being allocated in full.

All general security water users began the 2022-23 water year with water in their accounts either through new allocation or carried over from last year or both.

A. Yes, water has been flowing from NSW and Victoria across the South Australian (SA) border for extended periods in this water year as unregulated flow. In other words, it has been so wet, and the dams have been releasing water or indeed spilling water right through the southern connected system and so the flow at the SA border has been unregulated. In other words, upper states have been unable to control or regulate flows; therefore, South Australia has received extra water, beyond its (minimum) entitlement. Note that upper states don’t tend to provide more water than they are required to supply to SA, but SA benefits from any extra (unregulated) flows.

A. This is a function of the water sharing plan and the rules that are in place. As resource managers, we are confined to the statutory rules and have very limited discretion over what we do. In this case, the rule says that on 1 July, if allocations are less than 30%, we must borrow the Barmah-Millewa account balance to prop up general security allocations. Once those allocations get to 30%, and it's highly likely that they will be close to this at the start of the new water year, then we need to pay back that that borrow.

Given the water availability currently, there should be little difficulty in quickly paying back that borrow, allowing general security to then continue to accrue.

The water sharing plan rules can be found in each current water sharing plan Water sharing plans status - Water in New South Wales (nsw.gov.au)

A. Yes, that is the aim. As the current year is progressing, we are also building the following year’s allocations, and again, we are obliged on 1 July, in accordance with the design of the water sharing plans, to supply full allocations to all those high priority products every year on 1 July.

So, prior to 1 July we need to be building the resource to meet high priority commitments, before allocating further to general security entitlements in the current year. The department is looking at subsequent years and ensuring that there is enough water to meet those high priority commitments under the water sharing plans on 1 July each year.

A. To be safe when allocating water, we must assume that the water that we can currently see in the dams and in full rivers will recede to minimums in the weeks and months ahead. That is, we will descend into drought again.

So yes, the current rainfall forecasts are incredibly positive, but when we're putting water into people's accounts and people are relying on that water to be available when it’s needed, we need a large degree of certainty. Therefore, we don't rely on weather forecasts, as good as they are getting. We only rely on the water that we can see in the rivers and in storage, and a very small amount of minimum or drought inflow.

So, it's deliberately a conservative approach. We are not allowed to take risks with allocating water and putting water into accounts. We don't know the future with sufficient certainty, and we don't want to be (over)allocating water that cannot be delivered when needed because we have assumed future inflows that have not eventuated.

However, I will assure people that as each week and fortnight passes, we are re-assessing the water availability and safely allocating more as it is assured. So as wet conditions continue, those allocations will accrue with certainty, until full.

Last year we reached full general security allocation in the NSW Murray in about October, and I think it might even be similar this year, remembering that we cannot be certain about the future.

Therefore, we don't take the risk about future inflow and resources, but if water users want to use their tools, including the bureaus forecasts, to anticipate what the allocations are going to be, and to plan accordingly, then that is fine. It boils down to who takes the risk about future resource availability. The government has shown it is deliberately risk-averse but invites water users to exercise their own appetite for risk commensurate with their own business arrangements.