Far North Coast Regional Water Strategy

Overview

The NSW Government is preparing regional water strategies that will bring together the best and latest climate evidence with a wide range of tools and solutions to manage the water needs of NSW over the next 20 to 40 years.

A long-term regional water strategy is being developed to guide how the NSW Government can best manage the challenges that are facing the Far North Coast region. The Department of Planning and Environment is identifying actions that can address these challenges to support a liveable and prosperous Far North Coast region.

We have been working with local water utilities, councils and Aboriginal community members to ensure local knowledge informs the draft Far North Coast Regional Water Strategy. We will continue to work with First Nations people and the wider community to incorporate traditional knowledge and local aspirations in the final regional water strategy.

Progress Report

The NSW Government has released a progress report which presents an overview of this work. We are consulting with local governments on the proposed actions, and thus we have not yet committed to decisions regarding a final list.

The NSW Government recognises the considerable impact that the February/March 2022 floods have had on the communities in the Far North Coast region. We are publishing this progress report to demonstrate progress, but we understand that is not in the communities’ best interests to release the full extent of the work completed to date, ahead of necessary engagement with councils.

Stakeholders in the Far North Coast have a strong interest in regional water management issues. We are therefore releasing this progress report to ensure transparency and to give the community confidence that we are progressing this important work.

This progress report also provides context to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation’s (CSIRO) independent review of the Far North Coast regional water strategy. The review and the Department of Planning and Environment’s response to CSIRO’s recommendations are being published concurrently with this progress report.

These documents can be accessed below:

1. Progress report on the draft Far North Coast regional water strategy (PDF, 1280.89 KB)
2. CSIRO Review of the New South Wales Far North Coast Draft Regional Water Strategy Review (PDF, 1283.3 KB)
3. Department’s response to CSIRO review recommendations (PDF, 490.62 KB)

Download a high resolution version of the Far North Coast Key Statistics Snapshot (JPG, 1104.91 KB).

Draft strategy and background information

The current draft Far North Coast Regional Water Strategy is a set of three documents. Feedback on this draft Strategy was sought from 30 October to 13 December 2020. A second draft strategy will go on public exhibition at a later stage.

• Regional Water Strategies Guide (PDF, 3559.18 KB)
• Draft Far North Coast Regional Water Strategy (PDF, 21898.26 KB)
• Draft Far North Coast–long list of options (PDF, 9754.63 KB)

If you require assistance in reading these documents, please contact +61 2 9338 6600 or water.relations@dpie.nsw.gov.au.

Previous public information sessions

Watch the recorded webinar which provides an overview of the regional water strategies program, region specific opportunities, challenges and options. This webinar also includes the question and answer session.

Public information sessions were held at:

• Tweed Heads on Wednesday, 11 November 2020
• Lismore on Thursday, 12 November 2020.

Aboriginal communities

Public information sessions were held at:

• Tweed Heads on Wednesday, 11 November 2020
• Lismore on Thursday, 12 November 2020.

Next steps

We are working with communities across the state in a six-step approach to prepare and implement the Far North Coast Regional Water Strategy.

A high resolution version is available for download of the Far North Coast Regional Water Strategy next steps (JPG, 393.78 KB).