New South Wales Government
Water and Energy

• Water management
• Law and policy
• Water sharing
  • Commenced water sharing plans
  • Draft water sharing plans
  • Macro water sharing plans
    • Overview
    • Benefits
    • Aboriginal water users
    • Water sharing rules
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Environmental rules
  • Floodplain management
  • Socio–economic assessment
  • Advisory notes
• Water availability
• Monitoring
• Modelling
• Ecology
• Water quality
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1. Home
2. Water Management
3. Water sharing
4. Macro water sharing plans
5. Overview

Water Management

Macro water sharing plans overview

What is a macro water sharing plan?

Macro water sharing plans are water sharing plans which apply to a number of water sources across catchments or different types of aquifers. In July 2004, 31 water sharing plans commenced in New South Wales, bringing these water sources and some 80 per cent of the water extracted in New South Wales under the management and licensing provisions of the Water Management Act 2000.

The macro planning process is designed to develop broader-scale water sharing plans covering most of the remaining water sources in the state. They will be prepared as river catchment or groundwater system plans.

Macro water sharing plans are developed through a process involving technical assessments, classification and development of water sharing rules by seven regional panels and one Groundwater Panel.

In preparing macro water sharing plans, the NSW Government is building on the knowledge gained from community consultation during the first round of water sharing plans. These macro water sharing plans will use a more practical approach to assess the remaining subcatchments and will link to catchment and other land use plans.

Macro plans are prepared by classifying subcatchments according to their social, economic and ecological values.

A standard set of water sharing rules are then developed and extended across catchments with similar classifications.

Individual water sources that pose particular environmental or socioeconomic issues are also considered, so that water sharing rules can be tailored to their special requirements.

Macro water sharing plans will not include some streams and aquifers, such as the Snowy River where other water planning processes will deal with these more complex areas.

Macro water sharing plans are being developed under the Water Management Act 2000, which requires water sharing plans to:

• share water between all water users and the environment
• improve the health of our rivers
• provide security of access for water users
• meet the social and economic needs of regional communities
• facilitate water trading.

Plans must also take into account the State Water Management Outcomes Plan.

Macro water sharing plans also reflect the following priorities for access to water:

• the environmental health of rivers
• basic landholder rights – domestic and stock rights and native title rights
• town water and licensed domestic and stock use
• other extractive uses, including irrigation, farming, industry; Aboriginal cultural, education and research purposes (in certain rivers); mining and recreation (e.g. watering playing fields).

Macro water sharing plans set long-term annual extraction limits, and in some cases daily extraction limits, on the amount of water that can be taken. For unregulated rivers in the Murray—Darling Basin, the long­term annual extraction limit will also meet the cap limits set by the Murray—Darling Basin Ministerial Council for water extraction.

Towns will not need to change their existing licensing arrangements unless their current infrastructure (e.g. a dam) is unable to meet their water needs and requires upgrading. In this case, town water utilities will need to meet conditions specified in the macro water sharing plans to ensure that there is enough water flowing to protect the environment. Utilities will also need to demonstrate that the Best–Practice Management of Water Supply and Sewerage Guidelines, published by the former Minister for Utilities, are being implemented.

How are macro water sharing plans being prepared?

Technical assessments and development of rules for the initial draft plans are undertaken by Regional Panels of staff from the Department of Water and Energy, the Department of Environment and Climate Change, and the Department of Primary Industries. Catchment Management Authorities also contribute to Regional Panels whose recommendations form the basis of draft macro water sharing plans.

Working in partnership with agencies, Catchment Management Authorities ensure that draft plans are consistent with Catchment Action Plans and provide progress updates to keep the community informed.

Groundwater plans are also being developed by a Groundwater Panel of staff from the Department of Water and Energy, the Department of Environment and Climate Change and the Department of Primary Industries.

Groundwater plans will provide water for environmental protection. The remaining water – the 'sustainable yield' – will indicate what water is available for extraction. Ecosystems that are dependent on groundwater, such as some wetlands, will be protected as a priority.

The recommendations from Regional Panels and the groundwater panel form the basis of the draft macro water sharing plan that is then placed on public exhibition for comment.

Catchment Management Authorities actively involve the community in reviewing the draft plans and providing feedback.

How do the macro water sharing plans link with the existing plans?

Water sources addressed in existing water sharing plans will be excluded from the macro water sharing plans, and the two sets of plans will operate in parallel until the initial plan expires. At that time, there may be a case to merge the plans. Trading may be allowed between the existing unregulated water sharing plans and the macro plans where it is consistent with the rules of both plans.

When do the plans take effect?

The plans are being progressively rolled out.  The first macro plan commenced on 1 July 2008.

How can you contribute to the plans?

Consultations run by Catchment Management Authorities around the state will ensure opportunities to comment and provide feedback on the draft plans. All issues raised in submissions will be considered before plans are finalised.

For more technical information on the macro water sharing plans, contact your local Department of Water and Energy office.

Setting rules for macro water sharing plans

Water sharing rules are developed for broad areas after subcatchments or aquifers have been classified on the basis of their social, economic and ecological values.

Where people or regional economies are highly dependent on water extraction, macro water sharing plans aim to affect those uses as little as possible. Where valuable ecosystems are dependent on stream flows or groundwater and are likely to be affected by extraction, plans aim for more control of water extraction. Where both needs apply, they are carefully balanced.

Existing management rules such as those adopted by current water user groups are also taken into account. Where special conditions may apply, the Department of Water and Energy works with water user groups and individual licence holders to achieve a practical and balanced outcome.

The table below is a simplified version of the actual, more detailed, table used to develop water sharing rules for unregulated rivers. The intention is to balance the needs of the environment with social and economic needs.

Economic values such as the importance of irrigation to a community are shown across the top. Ecological values such as the importance of river water to threatened species of fish are shown down the left side.

In this example rules for a river with an important irrigation industry and very few ecological values would be applied from the bottom right box of the table. Rules for a river with high conservation values and little local irrigation would be applied from the top left box.

Low socioeconomic value		Medium socioeconomic value	High socioeconomic value
High instream values	Rules to protect instream values Reduce entitlement via trading.	Rules to encourage extraction to shift from high environmental impact to lower impact. Reduce entitlement via trading.	Rules to encourage extraction to shift from high environmental impact to lower impact (e.g. timing of extraction to allow first flush to pass). Reduce entitlement via trading.
Medium instream values	Rules to encourage extraction to shift from high environmental impact to lower impact. Encourage development through trading of water entitlements and allocations into management unit up to defined limits.	Rules to reduce impacts on important instream values. Encourage development through trading of water entitlements and allocations into management unit up to defined limits.	Rules to encourage extraction to shift from high environmental impact to lower impact. Rules to prevent net increase in entitlement via trading.
Low instream values	Stop any further degradation of instream values. Encourage development through trading of water entitlements and allocations into management unit up to defined limits.	Stop any further degradation of instream values. Encourage development through trading of water entitlements and allocations into management unit up to defined limits.	Rules to encourage extraction to shift from high hydrological stress to lower stress (i.e. moving extraction to less stressed parts of the flow regime provided there is no increase in environmental impacts). Rules to prevent net increase in entitlement via trading.