There have been small increases in some of our major rural water storages. While these increases have been important for securing essential water supplies for the next 12 months, more inflows are needed before general security allocations will be possible on 1 July 2020.
The Menindee Lakes in far western NSW had the most dramatic improvement in water storage levels. At the start of March 2020, the lakes were almost empty, but a month later had risen to 200 gigalitres. Around 400 gigalitres (25% of capacity) is expected in the lakes by the end of April. From 26 March, water has been released into the Lower Darling, connecting the Darling system for the first time in two years.
The NSW Government has officially added Bathurst to the critical needs water list. This means that planned infrastructure projects such as storm-water harvesting and the Winburndale Dam pipeline can be fast-tracked to ensure the community has the drinking water it needs.
The NSW Government has already committed more than $14 million towards water security projects in the region, including:
NSW takes an important step forward for Murray-Darling Basin
In April, the NSW Government submitted 11 Water Resource Plans (WRPs) to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) for assessment. This is an important step forward that will assist water management in the Murray-Darling Basin.
The 11 WRPs submitted for assessment relate to groundwater through the NSW section of the Basin. The department is now working on the remaining nine WRPs related to surface water.
Federal Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia Keith Pitt and NSW Minister for Water, Property and Housing Melinda Pavey have reaffirmed their commitment to work collaboratively to support communities through the process.
Minister Pavey said “Despite the challenges associated with COVID-19, my department and I are working with communities through video-and tele-conferencing to ensure their views are heard for the remaining nine surface water plans.”
“These water resource plans are an integral part of the Basin Plan, and having them in place will provide certainty for water users.” Minister Pitt said.
The MDBA will now review the 11 water resource plans against the requirements of the Basin Plan, and advise Minister Pitt on the outcome.
Telemetry technology makes sharing water data easier
The NSW Government is rolling out a new non-urban water monitoring system that uses local intelligence devices (LIDs) and telemetry technology. Telemetry is the process of recording and sending the readings of monitoring devices. This technology makes it easier to share water extraction data with government agencies and other water users.
The government has developed a telemetry system that includes:
a list of LIDs that meet the security and functional requirements under the new metering rule to help stakeholders choose the correct device for the job
an online portal allowing duly qualified persons (DQPs) to order, configure and register LIDs
a cloud-based data acquisition service that will receive data transmitted from LIDs, and provide that data to government agencies and water users.
In the next phase of the rollout, we will focus on working with water users, DQPs, and telemetry device manufacturers to make changing to the new system as smooth as possible.
NRAR works to improve water compliance on Mid-North Coast
As part of the Coffs Harbour Intensive Horticulture compliance campaign, the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) found 18 properties that were allegedly non-compliant with important water laws, while three were compliant.
In response, NRAR has issued:
14 penalty notices
a stop-work order to immediately cease use of unauthorised works
two legal directions to reduce the capacity of dams.
All water users found to be undertaking allegedly non-compliant practices were required to take action to bring them into compliance. Sixteen operations had oversized dams in the order of 1.5 to 12 times greater than the allowable size. Officers also found unauthorised pumps on a small watercourse.
Greg Abood, NRAR’s Director Water Regulation (East), said sites selected for inspection represented a diverse range of operations. They were identified using satellite imagery, local knowledge and site history.
‘The levels of non-compliance from our latest proactive work in Coffs Harbour show that water users in the industry need to do more work,’ Mr Abood said. ‘Horticulture farmers need to take responsibility for their non-compliance and be more proactive in complying with the law.’
The next phase of the campaign will begin later this year. In the meantime, NRAR is now working with relevant industry groups to contact their membership with important messages and information about compliance.
Independent panel to assess management of Northern Basin first flush
The NSW Government has appointed an independent panel to assess the management of the 2020 Northern Basin First Flush event.
Panel members Dr Wendy Craik and Greg Claydon will carry out the assessment to analyse the management of the first flush by the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment; WaterNSW and the Natural Resources Access Regulator.
As part of the assessment, the Panel will seek information from relevant state and federal agencies. The community, industry, environmental groups and Aboriginal representatives will also be invited to provide their feedback.
A final report will be provided to the government by the end of August.
The first round of community consultation is scheduled to begin in May 2020. Please visit the Northern Basin First Flush assessment webpage for further information.
Draft regional water strategies on public exhibition in May and June
The Lachlan, Gwydir, and Macquarie–Castlereagh draft regional water strategies will be released for public exhibition during May and June for six weeks.
Secure, reliable and resilient water sources are critical to support growth in regional NSW. These draft strategies have been prepared to help manage the water needs of NSW over the next 20 years. These tailored solutions have been developed using the best available climate evidence, along with a range of tools to plan and manage the water needs in each NSW region.
The regional water strategies (RWS) team has consulted with councils, joint organisations and Aboriginal communities to develop the draft strategies, and will be seeking feedback from the wider community about regional opportunities and challenges.
With face-to-face engagement not possible while the COVID-19 virus is affecting the state, the RWS team has put in place a range of online and remote engagement tools to ensure the community continues to have its say.
For more information, including dates of region-specific webinars, visit our website.
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