An overview of the public exhibition of the Barwon-Darling Watercourse and Murray – Lower Darling Surface Water Resource Plan Public consultation | October 2019
Agenda • Introduction to Water Resource Plans • Barwon-Darling Water Resource Plan • Barwon-Darling Water Sharing Plan • Lower Darling water Sharing Plan • Public exhibition – have your say • Drought Update Photo: NSW DPI
Introduction - Water Resource Plans
Departments and roles in water management Agencies and roles Legislation Instruments Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) • Water Act 2007 Review state WRPs to show states are managing Murray Darling Basin water under the Basin Plan requirements (Cwlth) Plan 2012 • Principles Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH) • Manage held environmental water that has been recovered from licence buybacks and efficiency projects under the Basin Plan Water Resource Plans (WRPs) DPIE – Water • How NSW water • Prepares and administers WRPs and WSPs management meets the Basin Plan Water Management DPIE – Biodiversity Conservation Division (formerly Act 2000 (NSW) OEH) • • Manages held planned environmental under Principles WSPs and held environmental water • Priorities Water Sharing Plans • Extreme events WaterNSW (WSPs) • • Delivers environmental and consumptive water Rules for managing orders environmental and consumptive water Natural Resource Access Regulator (NRAR) • Compliance with WSPs and water restrictions
Water resource plan – a Basin Plan requirement Demonstrate how water resources will be shared and managed to be consistent with the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. Set out the requirements for annual limits on water take, environmental water and managing water during extreme events. Provide strategies to protect water quality and manage risks. Set out the arrangements for measuring ‘take’ and monitoring the resource.
Water management in NSW - context Commonwealth Water Act 2007 Murray – Darling Basin Plan 2012 NSW Water Management Act Water resource plans The water sharing plan forms part of Specify the rules for diverting water 2000 the WRP. Relevant within specified areas of the Water sharing plans parts of a water Murray – Darling Basin. Specify the rules for sharing sharing plan are assessed by the water to maintain the health, Elements include: MDBA and • Compliance with the sustainable sustainability and productivity of accredited by the surface water and groundwater diversion limits and water trade Commonwealth sources across all of NSW. rules Minister. • Protection of water for the environment • Water quality and salinity Water Sharing Plans remain the primary management and objectives statutory instruments for water sharing in • Aboriginal values and uses NSW • Measuring and monitoring • Arrangements for managing extreme events
Water resource plan and water sharing plan Protection of water Aboriginal values for the environment and uses NSW statutory ‘ Compliance with the Measuring and water sharing sustainable diversion limit monitoring plans’ WRP Water quality and Arrangements for salinity objectives extreme events
Process for developing water resource plans DEVELOP CONSULT APPROVE & ACCREDIT IMPLEMENT MDBA Status Strategy Draft Public Final Ministerial WRP assessment & approval & Issues & rule WRP exhibition WRP Commences Commonwealth paper development WRP Minister accreditation September – February 2020 2017 October 2019
Consultation to date February 2017: Status and issues papers In progress: Public consultation Internal approvals Other NSW departments approvals for the water sharing plan First Nations consultation Four Nations Stakeholder Advisory Panel 10 meetings
Barwon-Darling Water Sharing Plan
Barwon-Darling water source
General proposed changes to water sharing plan Removal of groundwater sources and associated rules Objectives, strategies and performance indicators revised Establish a second extraction limit (sustainable diversion limit specified in the Basin Plan 2012), and incorporate an assessment and compliance framework for this limit. Improve consistency and alignment with policy positions
Proposed changes to the water sharing plan Recognition of Native Title Determination for the Barkandji Native Title holders Changes to A Class flow thresholds Removal of access to imminent flows Protection of the resumption of flow after an extended dry period Implementation of Individual Daily Extraction Limits Active management of environmental water
Changes in A class thresholds
Changes to A class flow thresholds • Revision of the A-Class Flow Thresholds, changes recommended by NRC and Vertessy Report • Proposed A Class thresholds based on multiple sources of information • Protect low flows plus 10% of the base flow range • No change to thresholds at Walgett Weir and Mogil Mogil
Management zones in the Barwon-Darling
Proposed A class flow thresholds Gauge Proposed Current Gauge Proposed Current (ML/day) (ML/day) (ML/day) (ML/day) Mungindi 198 230 Brewarrina 550 460 Culgoa Boomi Confluence 176 220 570 400 (Beemery gauge) Culgoa Mogil Mogil 220 190 645 400 (Warraweena gauge) Collarenebri 317 165 Bourke Town 605 350 Tara gauge 100 100 Louth 555 260 Walgett Weir Pool 600 to 900 600 to 900 Tilpa 505 215 Boorooma 400 530 Wilcannia 455 123 Boorooma 465 530 U/S Lake Wetherell 850 850 (Geera Gauge)
Removal of imminent flows
Removal of imminent flows • Part of the NSW Government response to NRC review • Current rules allow A and B class licences to request access to low flows and cease to flow when flows are imminent • NRC found current rules unlikely to meet requirement for Ministerial approval: • granting access is likely to cause unacceptable downstream or local impacts on the environment or on other users
Protection of the resumption of flow
Protecting the resumption of flows
Multi-sectional rule design
Benefits • Cultural benefits to Aboriginal communities who have an association with the river. It is important for regional community well-being. • Local economies often suffer due to the limited recreational and social opportunities during dry periods. • Local communities who rely on this water for human needs and for their stock. • Environmental benefits include protecting pool refugia, maintaining water quality, and wetting of the channel (especially if there is a larger flow following).
Individual Daily Extraction Limits
Purpose IDELs will limit the volume of water that can be taken from the river every day so that there is the potential for water to flow downstream. This will achieve both local and downstream benefits, including for the environment.
Total daily extraction pool The maximum total extraction per day (per licence class) will be the sum volume of all authorised pump capacities or agreed pumping rates in place in October 2012, just prior to the commencement of the 2012 WSP. A Class B Class C Class 513 ML/day 10,962ML/day 8,193ML/day
Individual Daily Extraction Limits (IDEL) A water access licence will have a share component and an extraction component. Share pool Extraction pool The IDEL has three parts; - location of management zone, - the daily flow share, - and an announcement
IDEL details Distribution: • IDELs will be distributed based on the licence holders’ share component and will be in the same proportion as their share of the total of all shares, within each licence class. • Expressed as a ‘Daily F low Share’ where 1 DFS = 1 ML unless a lower amount is announced Trade: • Permanent trade within river section will be allowed • No temporary trade is proposed at this stage Key dates: • IDELs will be calculated on the first day of public exhibition of the draft water sharing plan (26 September 2019) • IDELs are to be effective from the beginning of the next water accounting year (1 July 2020).
Active management of environmental water
What is active management The problem • Current unregulated water sharing plans do not protect held environmental water used in-stream from extraction Active management – the solution • Increased level of management in unregulated rivers • Involves forecasting flows and estimating volumes arising from different sources and announcing access The benefits • Protects water used in-stream for environmental purposes • Reduces the need for temporary water restrictions • Clearer for licence holders and public to know when water can and cannot be taken
Water to be protected from extraction Planned Environmental Held Environmental Water Water (HEW) • • from an upstream water source HEW from northern NSW regulated water sources and Queensland already protected by the storages in the Border Rivers unregulated water sharing plan • Unregulated HEW in an active • assessed as additional to the management area inflows considered when the A method for determining the volume of Barwon-Darling water sharing plan HEW arriving at the NSW-Queensland commenced border must be agreed by NSW before HEW originating in Queensland will be active managed in NSW water.
Adjusting access – the concept
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