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
• Water recovery

1. Home
2. Water Management
3. Water sharing
4. Macro water sharing plans
5. Water sharing rules

Water Management

Setting the water sharing rules

The macro water sharing plans are being developed for a range of widely differing rivers. Some of the issues considered in forming the rules include:

• instream values, such as threatened fish that are likely to be affected by flow extraction
• the hydrologic stress – the amount of water extracted relative to river flow
• the extraction value – the economic value of using the extracted water
• the economic dependency of the local community on water extraction
• the sensitivity of estuaries to the removal of fresh water
• current NSW Government Policy

Indicative access rules are firstly developed by balancing the instream values with the economic dependence of local communities on extraction. The greater the risk to instream values the stronger the environmental flow rules. The higher the economic dependency the less stringent the access rule. Where economic dependency and instream values are both high, more intensive management is proposed.

In the macro water sharing plan the stress from all upstream extraction is compared with the instream values to determine a set of preliminary water trading rules. Trading is not allowed into water sources that have high instream value. Trading is also limited in stressed water sources so as not to increase pressure on the river.

Regional input

The water sharing rules are adjusted to suit regional situations. Regional Panels are convened, with representatives from the Department of Water and Energy (DWE), the Department of Primary Industries, the Department of Environment and Climate Change and local Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs). These panels compare the indicative water sharing rules to any existing water sharing arrangements and in many cases the current rules are judged to be adequate in terms of balancing the natural and socio-economic values. In these cases, no change is proposed.

'Report cards' for each water source summarise the information used in the assessment and the proposed draft water sharing rules.

Consultation

The aim of community consultation is to gather additional information on local issues. This local information is critical input needed for the finalisation of the rules. CMAs liaise with stakeholder groups to identify any shortcomings in the proposed rules. A formal 'public exhibition' period occurs for each draft plan before the plan is finalised.