The NSW legislative assembly are conducting an inquiry into the Impacts of the Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Act 2023 on NSW regional communities. The chair is Roy Butler and has been designed to consider the following:

a) the social, economic and environmental impact of repealing limits to the cap on Commonwealth water purchases
b) the risks to the effective implementation of the Federal Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Act 2023 including unlicensed take of water and options to address these risks such as rules for floodplain harvesting
c) the impact of Planned Environmental Water rules on the reliability of water allocations in NSW and the Commonwealth's environmental water holdings
d) the impact of rules-based changes on the reliability of water allocations in NSW, including their impact on different water license categories
e) the effectiveness and impacts of past water reforms, including community-based water reduction adjustment programs such as the Strengthening Basin Communities program and Murray-Darling Basin Economic Development Program
f) options to improve future community-based reduction adjustment programs including next rounds of the Sustainable Communities Program
g) any other related matter. Submissions are Due 14th April 2025. 

Today the NSW Government released media associated with wetlands in the NSW unregulated WSP. There has been significant changes to the proposals, a direct result of the feedback from each of you. We thank the NSW water Minister and her department for responding to the feedback they received.
There are still however newly prescribed wetlands in the Gwydir. Landholders who still have sites on their land, which they do not support as wetlands have until the 23rd March to provide feedback to the department, as the plan is still subject to change through the public consultation period. 
In addition we will be reinforcing the need for any landholder impacted by these new and all existing wetlands to be directly consulted by the department. Gazetting a wetland without appropriate consultation is not acceptable. 
The updates on the department website include mapped wetland areas limited to internationally significant Ramsar listed wetlands, those registered in the Directory of Important Wetlands of Australia, any wetlands already receiving protection in the current water sharing plans and wetlands identified as ecologically and/or culturally significant in previously exhibited floodplain management plans.
People can also attend a webinar from 12.30-1.30pm on Wednesday 12 March 2025 to learn more.

The Basin Plan 2012 was made under Part 2 of the Water Act 2007 (Cth) (the Water Act) to guide the management and sharing of water in the Basin in a more sustainable way. There have been hugh changes to water management as a result. 
Summary of findings:
Four NSW Water resource plans remain to be accredited - the Gwydir is one of them. 
All 54 SDL resource units within non-accredited WRP did not exceed compliance triggers in 2022-23
As of June 2024 there had been 2,131.7GL/yr Surface water recovered, only 22GL remained at that stage. 35.25GL/yr of groundwater had been recovered with only 3.2GL remaining.
This year we expect to see the Sustainable Rivers Audit and the Basin Plan evaluation, these together with the Outlook for the Basin, Sustainable Yields and Discussion Paper will be utilised as an evidence base for the 2026 Basin Plan Review.

Irrigators question recent efforts by Minister Plibersek to consider socio-economic impacts of buybacks

25 February 2025, Canberra, ACT – Irrigators call out Minister Plibersek’s decision to sign off[ on purchasing another 100 GL of water in the southern Basin with questionable procurement processes and deliberately narrow evidence to support the decision.

“The advice before the Minister to inform the decision is flawed,” said Zara Lowien, CEO of National Irrigators’ Council.

“The additional 170 GL of water (from a 2024 round and this new one), will cause a significant increase in water allocation price of around 7.2% in the southern Murray Darling, and impact some industries particularly hard, such as rice, with an estimated 6.48% drop in water use.”

“The narrow assessment only looked at buying back 170 GL/y of water and apportioned $84 million annual production losses, ignoring that more than 2,100 GL/y is now recovered with an estimated annual farm-gate production loss between $602 million - $914 million.”

“Can the Minister really say she has considered socio-economic impacts, if the impact assessment is designed to not capture the full impacts?” said Ms Lowien.

“Worse still, the evidence highlighted the range of government programs aimed at mitigating the known socio-economic impacts but failed to mention the minimal progress of these other strategies”.

“Updates show there are no ‘new’ efficiency alternatives contracted, no land and water partnerships, and only NSW has signed up to their flagship program: Sustaining Basin Communities.”

In a clearly political move to win city votes at the expense of regional Australia, the Commonwealth has today kicked off a second buyback tender in the southern Murray-Darling Basin in 2024-25. NSW Irrigators’ Council CEO Claire Miller said with an election due any moment, “today’s announcement is clearly intended to try to win city votes while throwing regional communities, farmers and even the environment under the bus. “Today we learn the Government is full steam ahead to buy up to another 100 billion litres in 2025, on top of the 70 billion litres from its first tender opened last year. “The minister claims she considers social and economic impacts before approving buybacks. Considers maybe, but clearly ignores when ABARES says past and planned water recovery wipes $602 million – $914 million every year from what the farmgate value of irrigated agriculture would otherwise be.
“The one-off $300 million assistance package will not even touch the sides of what irrigation-dependent communities need when the Government is stripping hundreds of millions of dollars in income from their economies every year.
“We also know that while more than 3000 GL recovered to date is delivering important, localised environmental benefits, more water will not deliver the Basin-wide step change needed to reverse declining native fish and static waterbird populations, and improve water quality.

19 February 2025, Canberra, ACT – The release of the Auditor General’s report of the Federal Government’s water buybacks finds the Government implemented a well-paved road of effective process but struggled to find the link between the buyback program and the intended policy objectives for the Murray Darling Basin Plan.  

“Many will glance at the key findings of effective process and give the Government a pat on the back, but the devil is in the detail when the report goes on to question the link between the buyback program and the intended policy objectives for the environment” said National Irrigators’ Council CEO, Ms Lowien.

“It found that the buyback program, designed to bridge the gap between current diversions and the Basin Plan’s Sustainable Diversion Limits (SDLs), was a well-paved road but questions, to where?”, said Ms Lowien.

“Achieving Sustainable Diversion Limits in the Basin was the centrepiece of the Basin Plan, but achieving the broader environmental objectives requires going beyond just adding water,”

“Government reporting indicates that SDLs are enforced and being achieved– so it’s fair to ask the question, as the Auditor General infers, why is the Government buying more water and not investing in other solutions?” said Ms Lowien.

Media snippets (not endorsements):

• Water allocations face potential shake-up with climate review under way [HERE]
• Minister Plibersek concedes that the accreditation of water resource plan is unlawful [HERE]
• These Traditional Owners are demanding that First Nations voices are heard on water [HERE]
• Buybacks inquiry launched [HERE]
• Landholders want to see changes to water basin plan [HERE]
• Farmers fear forced flood easements [HERE]
• MDBA plans for year ahead [HERE]
• Research confirms environmental water supports “nerve system” of Narran Lakes (Dharriwaa) [HERE]

Proposals by Water NSW and WAMC would result in water prices to increase by 170% within five years. “Here in the Gwydir valley, we grow pecans, oranges for fruit juice, as well as cotton, all of which is at risk due to these exorbitant proposed price hikes,” Mr Cush said.

“But this is not just about farmers – households in Moree and other towns will also be hit through council water utilities, as well as other water licence holders like local golf clubs, rugby and cricket grounds and children’s parks.”

The Telemetry Uplift Program aims to assist eligible water users in the Murray-Darling Basin with compliance to the metering rules, to ensure water taken from inland regional water sources is extracted fairly, equitably and according to the rules. 
By opting in to the program, eligible water users will be offered free telemetry devices, including a local intelligence device (LID) and data logger. 
The $10.5 million Australian Government funded program will benefit over 2,500 eligible water users.

Register your interest by 31 March 2025 to receive further information and make sure you don’t miss out.