Water Management
Water quality
The quality of the waters in our rivers and aquifers is naturally influenced by inputs of salt and nutrients from the surrounding landscape and its geology. However, water quality can also be degraded by a wide range of factors including point source activities (such as sewage discharge, mine wastes) and diffuse source activities such as land clearing and cultivation, urban and agricultural development.
The regulation of river flow by major storages and weirs and the extraction of water have also influenced the quality of water with many rivers receiving fewer flow events and floods which naturally clean and flush the river. Whilst lowered water quality may only be a short–term problem for rivers, water in our groundwater systems has often been stored for thousands of years so any contamination has long-lasting impacts.
At a national level, the National Water Quality Management Strategy provides guidance on water quality planning and management and establishes guideline values for various water quality measures. In NSW, interim water quality objectives have been established in consultation with the community that help decision makers consider water quality in both big picture strategic planning (i.e. Catchment Action Plans and Regional Strategies) and at the local level when assessing impacts of developments.
The Department of Water and Energy has a number of programs that assess water quality and try to improve it. The Department through its water licences also require that contaminated irrigation or mining water not be returned directly to rivers and groundwater. The Department of Environment and Climate Change licences the discharge of sewage and other point source pollution.