- NSW has four Water Resource Plans pending resubmission. The plans include the Gwydir Alluvium, Namoi Alluvium, Gwydir Surface Water and Namoi Surface Water Resource Plans. The key outstanding issues primarily relate to the Part 14 of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, which requires us to undertake culturally appropriate consultation with Aboriginal communities.
- We engaged with representatives of the Gomeroi Nation on these plans in 2018, which was included in a report that was originally submitted as part of the plans’ requirements. However, that report was removed from the plans consistent with IP after permission to use it was withdrawn.
- We have been re-engaging with the Gomeroi Nation since March (2024), and are working well together towards a suitable resolution pathway. We are committed to engaging closely with Aboriginal communities, listening to their needs and concerns and incorporating their feedback into our water resource plans. We want our water resource plans to work for the entire community, balancing the needs of people, culture, industry and the environment while meeting the Basin Plan objectives.
- Work with the Gomeroi Nation is well progressed, and pending the support of the Nation, the relevant information to allow for resubmission is expected to be available after February 2025. The Namoi Surface Water Resource Plan also requires additional work in relation to floodplain harvesting content. This is a substantial body of work.
- The process of getting water resource plans fully accredited also requires extensive collaboration with the MDBA, which is what we are continuing to do. We are working hard to update the 4 plans for resubmission to ensure they meet all the accreditation requirements before we resubmit them.
About water resource plans
Water resource plans are a key feature of the Commonwealth Basin Plan 2012. In NSW, we have developed 20 water resource plans. This follows three years of public consultation and discussion with stakeholders and the community.
Each water resource plan area has different resources, environmental assets, development and geography. These things affect the management of water resources in each area.
Relying heavily on our NSW water sharing plans, the plans provide a clear framework and rule-set for managing NSW Basin water resources. This will benefit regional communities and water dependent industries. It will ensure we maintain healthy and resilient water ecosystems. These plans will help us to achieve the right balance of community, environmental, economic and cultural outcomes.
The plans
Stages of a water resource plan
Commonwealth accreditation - pending, submitted, withdrawn, accredited
Accredited plans
Accredited by the MDBA in April 2024.
Accredited by the MDBA in February 2024.
Accredited by the MDBA in December 2023.
Accredited by the MDBA in November 2023.
Accredited by the MDBA in November 2023.
Accredited by the MDBA in August 2023.
Accredited by the MDBA in August 2023.
Accredited by the MDBA in June 2023.
Accredited by the MDBA in May 2024.
Accredited by the MDBA in December 2022.
Accredited by the MDBA in December 2022.
Accredited by the MDBA in November 2022.
Accredited by the MDBA in September 2022.
Accredited by the MDBA in May 2024.
Accredited by the MDBA in June 2024.
Accredited by the MDBA in June 2024.
Withdrawn plans
Withdrawn in April 2024. Anticipated resubmission in 2025, following further work.
Withdrawn in April 2024. Anticipated resubmission in 2025, following further work.
Withdrawn in April 2024. Anticipated resubmission in 2025, following further work.
Withdrawn in May 2023. Anticipated resubmission in 2025, following further work.
Long-Term Diversion Limit Equivalence (LTDLE) factors
Read about how LTDLE factors keep track of how much water has been recovered for the environment as required by the Basin Plan 2012.
How are we delivering the plans
Planning process
Water resource plans are a key requirement of the Commonwealth Basin Plan 2012. There are 22 water resource plans required to be developed in NSW and each plan varies in the number of resources, their level of development, number of environmental assets, and geography affecting the way the rivers are run in each area.
Water resource plans will reflect the NSW arrangements in water sharing plans for sharing water for consumptive use. They will also reflect the NSW rules to meet environmental and water quality objectives and will take into account potential and emerging risks to water resources.
Minimum requirements
To meet the minimum requirements of the Commonwealth Water Act 2007 and Basin Plan, NSW water resource plans must:
- describe all water rights in the plan area
- demonstrate how compliance with the Sustainable Diversion Limit (SDL) prescribed in the Basin Plan will be assessed and maintained
- include a Water Quality Management Plan
- provide for environmental watering
- address risks to water resources identified in a risk assessment
- explain how essential human needs will be met in extreme events
- take account of Aboriginal people’s water dependent cultural values and uses.
All of the water resource plans will also include one or more NSW water sharing plans.
The NSW Government has always advocated for a true triple-bottom-line approach to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, which balances economic, environmental and socio-economic concerns, and puts local communities first.
The development of NSW water resource plans has adhered to these fundamental principles, with stakeholder and community consultation at the forefront. Targeted consultation with Stakeholder Advisory Panels (SAPs) and public exhibition was undertaken for each plan.
SAPs provided the department with stakeholder input into the planning process for WRP development. SAPs helped identify issues, examine options and provide the department with feedback and advice throughout the development of WRPs.
Stakeholder Advisory Panels were set up for each valley water resource plan area and an additional panel for the groundwater plans. The SAPs also provided feedback and advice where the regulated river Water Sharing Plans (WSPs) occurred at the same time as the development of the relevant WRPs. The stakeholder advisory panels operated under agreed terms of reference.
SAP members included representatives from NSW government agencies, water users, environmental interest groups, Aboriginal communities and local councils.
Community engagement
Public consultation on draft plans was held from late 2018 and throughout 2019, with 55 public meetings across 39 locations in the Basin attended by more than 1,600 people. We received 710 written submissions, and have published a summary of these for each water resource plan area.
A community consultation–what we heard report captured the key areas of feedback. Find out how these issues are being addressed below.
Issues
Issues raised in relation to the Murray Lower Darling Water Sharing Plan led to the department publishing a supplementary report to provide additional information specific to the NSW Murray Regulated River Water Source in response to issues raised at the Murray–Lower Darling stakeholder advisory panel meetings of March and April 2020 as well as by water user groups.
Engagement with First Nations
The department will be progressing further consultation with First Nations. This recognises a commitment within the NSW Water Resource Plans for follow up consultation.
The approach and roll out of this engagement will be further discussed with peak First Nation groups however it is anticipated that the engagement will initially focus on accredited groundwater water resource plan areas. This includes the Border Rivers, NSW Murray-Darling Basin Fractured Rock, NSW Murray-Darling Basin Porous Rock, Macquarie and Darling.
The Border Rivers will be the first plan area covered from September 2023. The consultation will be rolled out to the further plan areas in later 2023 and into 2024. A guide to Traditional Owner Groups of Groundwater Resource Plan Areas is available on the Murray-Darling Basin Authority website.
First Nations may be covered in one or more plan areas. In consulting with individual Nations, the consultation will cover all applicable groundwater water resource plan areas to avoid repetition and consultation fatigue.
Through undertaking consultation in these accredited plan areas, the consultation will cover all groundwater water resource plan areas with the addition of a small number of meetings.
While focused on groundwater the consultation will not preclude any discussion of surface water for the surface water resource plans (noting surface water resource plans are pending finalisation for accreditation).
The initial consultation approach is being undertaken ahead of the introduction of an ongoing engagement approach being delivered through the department’s Aboriginal Water Program over the longer term. The initial consultation approach may eventually be replaced by the ongoing engagement led by the Aboriginal Water Program.
The intent of the consultation is to look at previous information provided for water resource planning, how this was used in the plans, consider the feedback provided and potential gaps, consider new information and how it can be used to amend water resource plans in the future.
We acknowledge that many issues raised by First Nations may not be able to be addressed within Water Resource Plans and that the broader work of the department may need to consider how these are addressed.
Finalising water resource plans
What happens now
Assessment of Water resource plans
NSW initially submitted all of its draft Water Resource Plans (WRPs) to the MBDA in the first half of 2020. This included 11 groundwater and 9 surface water plans. This was the first step of a three-stage process to accredit the plans.
Following submission of NSW water resource plans, the MDBA undertook their initial assessment of the WRPs between May 2020 and August 2021.
All twenty NSW WRPs were withdrawn following receipt of formal advice from the MDBA indicating the plans did not meet all accreditation requirements. The main reasons the plans did not meet the accreditation requirements were:
- Issues around planned environmental water
- Aboriginal consultation
- Internal and other minor referencing issue
Withdrawal and resubmission of WRPs, once formal advice from the MDBA is received, is a normal process followed by all states with their Basin Plan commitments and the accreditation process.
NSW has worked with the MDBA to address the issues raised in the formal advice. The Border Rivers Alluvium plan was resubmitted in February 2022 and the Lachlan surface water plan was resubmitted in March 2022. NSW further resubmitted the remaining 18 water resource plans for accreditation assessment.
In May 2023, seven NSW surface water resource plans were withdrawn. Three of these have now been resubmitted with a further two anticipated by the end of 2023.
It is important to note that the ‘assist’ phase can involve a number of cycles of feedback and response, and as flagged earlier plans may be submitted but withdrawn for various reasons.
Once NSW water resource plans are all accredited the plans will move to an amendment phase.
Water sharing plans
Water Sharing Plans (WSPs) are one component of the WRPs. They are the key legal document for NSW water management, setting out water sharing arrangements between water users, including the environment. They are also a key mechanism to carry out the requirements of the WRPs.
State based components of the WRPs must be in place and commence before the WRP is accredited by the Commonwealth. This means that the NSW WSPs must commence before the NSW WRPs are accredited.
On 1 July 2020, NSW commenced eleven replacement groundwater sharing plans and twelve amended unregulated river water sharing plans. The unregulated river plans are those which were submitted as part of the surface water WRPs. The groundwater replacement plans have been slightly updated, which mean NSW must resubmit these plans to the MDBA.
Additional minor amendments have been made to some unregulated and groundwater sharing plans in the interim prior to the resubmission of the water resource plans. These amendments are included in the water sharing plans included in the resubmitted plans.
NSW is also responsible for nine regulated river WSPs and their associated WRPs. Amendment to these water sharing plans have now been progressed for approval under State legislation. These amendments must be commenced prior the WRPs being accredited to avoid any inconsistencies in compliance of the water resource plans.
Including floodplain management provisions in northern basin plans
As part of the NSW Floodplain Harvesting Policy, the department is working through a process to issue floodplain harvesting licences. Rules for these licences will be included in the relevant water sharing plans for the NSW Border Rivers, Gwydir, Namoi, Macquarie and Barwon Darling.
Broadly, the take of water from floodplain harvesting is already included in the relevant WSPs for the northern NSW basin. The long-term average annual extraction limits set in these WSPs include water taken through floodplain harvesting activities in the plan area.
Water sharing plans for these areas will also be amended to include more specific rules that will apply to floodplain harvesting access licences once they are issued. We will be undertaking WSP amendments to implement the floodplain harvesting rules and accounting measures. Amendments have been progressed for the NSW Border Rivers, Gwydir and Macquarie. Work is progressing in the Barwon Darling and Namoi. Individual valley information can be found at water sharing plan rules for floodplain harvesting.
We are working with the MDBA on the best way to update the affected WRPs, as these have been submitted for accreditation. Depending on the timing, where the MDBA finds a WRP needs changes to be made, the floodplain harvesting amendments could be included as part of the re-submitted plan. Alternatively, the plan could be amended after it is accredited.
Supplementary documents
Interagency Agreement between NSW and MDBA
The MDBA and the former NSW Department of Industry (now Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water) signed an agreement on 28 February 2019 relating to specified measures in anticipation of water resource plans coming into effect.
Reporting against these measures was required on 16 April 2019 (progress report) and 16 June 2019 (final report). The final reports for Surface Water and Groundwater can be found below.
Fact sheets
A series of fact sheets to help you provide informed feedback on the various elements of the water resource plans.
General
- Water Resource Plans in NSW fact sheet (PDF 330.8 KB)
- Meeting Basin Plan requirements in relation to Aboriginal values and uses for water fact sheet (PDF 30.6 KB)
Groundwater
- Specifying planned environmental water fact sheet (PDF 48.2 KB)
- Compliance with sustainable diversion limits for groundwater fact sheet (PDF 44.5 KB)
- Available water determinations for groundwater fact sheet (PDF 49.2 KB)
- Groundwater take - complying with limits for groundwater sources fact sheet (PDF 269.7 KB)