GWYDIR VALLEY IRRIGATORS ASSOCIATION

News

Environmental Deliveries in Gwydir

Mallowa: commenced 5 Dec 2025 and are planned to continue through to April 2026. 
Lower Gwydir:  commenced 3 Oct 2025 finishing shortly after 3 months of watering.  
Gingham: commenced 1 Dec 2025 at of 50 ML/d increasing to 100 ML/d (maximum through raft) through to Boyanga Waterhole. Flows likely to cease Feb 2026. 
Whittakers Lagoon: Is expected to fill early in the new year. 
Mehi River: Lower Mehi fish deliveries commenced 13 Dec 2025 connecting with the Barwon River to create local fish movement between the rivers. 
Barwon River:  CEWH and NSW CPHR are planning releases from the Border Rivers and Gwydir to support base flows in the Barwon between Mungindi and Walgett commencing in Dec, likely continuing for 3-4 weeks. Flows from the Gwydir will be via both the Mehi and the Carole – details are still being determined in conjunction with WNSW river operators.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

On behalf of the Committee of the GVIA I would like to wish all our members a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thank you to you all for your support of the GVIA. 
I look forward to working with you in 2026. 
Cheers 
Lou

The NSW Department have acknowledged that the current clause 57 currently doe While the intent of the rule hasn’t changed since 2004, we acknowledge that the rule as written hasn’t been implemented by WaterNSW since the 2022 amendment, and further it appears that the current clause wouldn’t operate as intended. They have amended the Access Licence Dealing Principles Order such that it effectively puts the restrictions to temporary trade under clause 57 (1) on hold until the end of May 2026. This is intended to provide further time to examine and address this problem. The intention is to revisit the rule in the plan to find a longer term resolution in 2026.

 The amendment order is available here:

https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/pdf/asmade/sl-2025-703

The NSW Government has announced two  funding opportunities
1. Agriculture Industries Innovation and Growth Program
This program supports projects that enhance productivity, sustainability, and innovation across agricultural industries.
Learn more and apply here: Agriculture Industries Innovation and Growth Program | NSW Government
2. Aquaculture Industry Development Program
Designed to accelerate growth and innovation in aquaculture, this program provides funding for initiatives that strengthen industry capability and sustainability.
Full details and guidelines: Aquaculture Industry Development Program Guidelines | NSW Government

There is no allocation increment to general security (GS) licences in the Gwydir Regulated River Water Source this time. The GS account balance is about 619 gigalitres (GL), or an average 121% of entitlement.
The environmental water allowance (EWA) balance is about 88 GL, or an average of 195% of entitlement.
As of 30 November 2025, Copeton Dam received an estimated 9 GL of inflow, with downstream tributaries contributing a further 4 GL. 
During November, total essential supply demand was about 3.4 GL, and GS usage was approximately 5 GL. Around 1 GL of EWA delivered during this period.

MOREE Plains Shire Council is seeking community feedback on a proposal to adjust the Moree to Sydney flight schedule.
The proposal is to remove the Saturday service, and put on an evening service on Tuesday. There is no proposal to change the existing time of the Tuesday morning flights which get to Sydney between 11:30 and 12:00. 
The proposed schedule is available here 

Temporarty Trade of General Security Entitlements

We have recently determined that there are some components of the Gwydir WSP that are restricting temporary trade of General Security entitlements. Specific advice can only be determined via an application to WaterNSW. In general the assessments will entail the following: 

The rule 57 (1) of the Water Sharing Plan for the Gwydir Regulated River Water Source 2016 states that a temporary trade is prohibited if it increases total allocation in the segments specified in table A of rule 55.  Increase in allocation means buying water into those segments in Table A. 
That means, for temporary trade rule 57 (1) 

  • WaterNSW first look at where are the linked works of the buyer's access licence. If at least one linked work is in those segments specified in Table A, then rule 57 (1) is applied. 
  • If none of the buyer's linked works are in any of those segments (table A), then WaterNSW proceed with the rest of the assessment, because there is no risk of total allocation increase in any of the segments from Table A. 
  • If WaterNSW needs to apply 57(1) rule, they also look at the seller's licence linked works to see where the water could come from (other segments, same segment, mix), unfortunately there is no mechanism for WaterNSW to check where the seller is transferring the water from, if the seller licence has multiple works in different segments.


Applying the rule 57(1) means calculating the total allocations of the buyer's segment from Table A and adding the proposed trade amount. If the calculated amount is below the permitted allocation amount in Column 2 of the Table A, they move on to the rest of the 
assessment, however if the calculated amount is higher, then the transfer will be refused. 

Farmers in the Basin are calling on the Federal Government to escalate water security for agriculture as a priority, following the findings of the Basin Outlook, published today which echoed findings from the National Climate Risk Assessment. 
“All climate change scenarios will have significant risks on water security for Australian agriculture,” said NIC CEO, Zara Lowien “farmers are adapting every day to changing climate, but can only adapt so far, water security is critical”. 
“The Outlook modelling scenarios found the Basin will be both wetter and drier, with more extreme conditions with varying impacts and level of uncertainty around the Basin.” 
“It is absolutely important that we consider climate change as part of the Basin Plan Review, but this needs to be fit for purpose, recognising the uncertainty, and extremes to both wet and dry.” 
“We are concerned the document has over-generalised headlines, but when you look at the detail, there are a lot of unknowns and uncertainty,” said Ms Lowien. “That’s not to dismiss the work, rather that when Government responds to it, they need to consider its limitations which are very evident in the report.”
NIC Media release available here

The Member for Cootamundra/ Shadow Minister for Water Steph Cooke and local member Brendan Moylan spent many months putting together approximately 40 amendments to the Bill to make it fairer for irrigators and water users across NSW. 
Together they ran and argued 39 amendments in the Lower House where they were voted down by the Minns Labor Government and the Greens.

Our local representative worked very hard on this and are very disappointed by this result. The Link to the Hansard is below; 
 Water Management Legislation Amendment (Stronger Enforcement and Penalties) Bill 2025 
Legislative Assembly Hansard - 12 November 2025 - Proof 
Legislative Assembly Hansard - 12 November 2025 - Proof

Steph Cooke 
Legislative Assembly Hansard - 12 November 2025 - Proof 
Legislative Assembly Hansard - 12 November 2025 - Proof

Please see dropbox link which will take you to the videos of the contributions: 

NSW DCCEEW are hosting a series of metering webinars:   Register Here
9.30–10.30 am, Wednesday 26 November
Focus topic: Metering exemptions and works classifications
1.30–2.30 pm, Thursday 27 November
Focus topic: Duly qualified person (DQP) installations for 100 ML+ entitlements
5.30–6.30 pm, Thursday 4 December
Focus topic: Self installations for 15 ML – under 100 ML entitlements

  • All works with total entitlement of more than 15 ML and less than 100 ML must have a pattern-approved meter installed by 1 December 2027 or their next works approval renewal date (whichever is the later) 
  • Works with total entitlement of less than 15 ML do not require a meter unless they are utilized for trading entitlement.
  • Surface water pumps of 500 mm diameter or more, and works in inland water sources with total entitlement of 100 ML or more must already have an AS4747 meter, LID, and telemetry, installed and validated by a duly qualified person (DQP) 

"More water rights in the Murray-Darling Basin will be purchased from farmers and irrigators in a renewed push by the federal government to return 450 gigalitres of water to the environment.".....
"He also flagged that the government is closely considering purchasing water from the northern part of the basin for the first time.
"Recent advice from the Murray-Darling Basin Authority highlights the potential benefits of pursuing water recovery in the northern basin to contribute towards the 450 gigalitre target.
"While this is not an adopted policy of our government right now, I will work closely with my department in considering this advice.""

There is no allocation increment to general security (GS) licences in the Gwydir Regulated River Water Source at the end of October 2025.
The GS account balance is about 623 gigalitres (GL), or an average 122% of entitlement.
Environmental water allowance (EWA) remains the same as it has reached its maximum limit by 200%.
As of 31 October 2025, Copeton Dam received an estimated 8 GL of inflow, with downstream tributaries contributing a further 2 GL. These inflows were insufficient to support an increase in GS water allocations. The current resource assessment is based on system conditions observed up to 31 October 2025.

The New England North West AI Forum, in association with Telstra, and supported by Moree Business Chamber, is a must-attend event for regional businesses ready to harness the power of artificial intelligence. Hear from leading voices from across the region and beyond as they share their expertise and answer your questions. 
Unlocking AI: Tools, Tactics and Transformation 
Date: Wednesday, 19 November 2025 
Time: 10:45 AM to 2:00 PM (includes networking lunch) 
Venue: Social Co House, 157 Balo Street, Moree NSW 
Tickets: Register Here 

Cotton Australia recently released some information on what is required under the Fair Work Act 2009 with regards terminating an employee. It provides some interpretation of what is required by the Act from a procedural fairness perspective. 

“This was a missed opportunity for Minister Watt to put politics aside and send a strong message about refocusing the Basin Plan on outcomes, not just numbers” said NIC CEO, Zara Lowien. 
“At the MDBA’s invitation, Basin Leaders gathered in Adelaide to consider the recently released scientific evidence which found environmental priorities in the Basin have shifted and emboldened participants to work on solutions to move beyond ‘just adding water’”.
“Stakeholders were focusing on how to achieve environmental outcomes and considering options to reduce invasive species and improve native fish populations, better integrate broader catchment management principles into Basin management, and how to efficiently get water onto floodplains.”
“The announcement which targets additional environmental water, above Sustainable Diversion Limits and arguably with low environmental utility due to the uncertainty of constraints, was at odds the proactive and productive discussions”.

MDBA

The Murray Darling Basin Plan 2012 has achieved its goal to reduce diversions to Sustainable Diversion Limits delivering a healthy working basin with optimised social, economic and environmental outcomes. The Basin Plan Evaluation notes that flow-based outcomes have been achieved, there’s no need for more water as 72% of river flows are for environmental purposes.

There are still many non-flow outcomes needing to be achieved.  The focus must be on getting better outcomes from existing water, by addressing barriers to improve environmental outcomes, including carp management, riparian management, fish screens and fish passage. It is in Australia’s best interest for water policy to focus on shared outcomes not politics into the future. The next MDBP must be a management plan not a volumetric plan.

The Gwydir Unregulated WSP remains inactive. In early September the department released proposals for cease to pump restrictions on three water sources in the Gwydir. These were Copeton Dam, Moredun Creek and Tycannah Creek. These assessments were based on assertions that the water sources ecologically significant and under pressure from extraction. The assessments of the water sources considered only the potential risk (assumption of 100% of take being accessed) versus the actual risk. They failed to consider and metering data or inactive entitlements. For more information please read our submission. 

WAMC’s prices for water management services will increase by an average annualised rate of 5% plus inflation over four years to 2028-29.
They continue to apply water take charges to floodplain harvesting licences and have introduced an additional water management charge for floodplain harvesting to help recover WaterNSW’s incremental costs associated with floodplain harvesting.
As  introduction of new WAMC prices were deferred by 3 months (i.e. from 1 July 2025 to 1 October 2025), the water management component of a typical bill will increase by 7.5% and the MAC by 3.9% on 1 October 2025. Typical bills over the full 2025-26 year will be equivalent to what they would have been if new WAMC prices had been introduced on 1 July 2025.

Water Allocation Statement 5 Sept 25

General security (GS) licences and ECA in the Gwydir Regulated River have received an increase of 48% of entitlement. This takes the GS account balance to 607 gigalitres (GL), or an average 119%, and increases the ECA account balance to its maximum allowable 90 GL or 200% of entitlement. 
In August, Copeton Dam inflow was approximately 268 GL, with downstream tributaries contributing an additional 141 GL. 

To get concurrence from the environment minister the NSW DCCEEW are proposing changes to access rules on the Tycannah Creek.
* existing access rules prevent water being taken when there is no visible flow at an individual pump site.
* proposed new access rules will prevent water being taken when flow is 2 ML/day or less at the Tycannah Creek Horseshoe Lagoon Gauge (418032). This rule is proposed to apply to all access licenses in the water source.
Register to attend the in person meeting in Moree at 4:15 on Wednesday 10th September at Social Co in Balo St here.
Register for the general webinar here

To get concurrence from the environment minister the NSW DCCEEW are proposing rule changes to access entitlement in the Copeton Dam Management Zone.
* existing access rules prevent water being taken when there is no visible flow at an individual pump site.
* the proposal is to prevent water being taken when flow is 80 ML/day or less at the Gwydir River at Bundarra Gauge (418008). This rule is proposed to apply to all access licenses within the management zone.
Register for the Webinar here

To get concurrence from the Environment minister, the NSW DCCEEW are proposing to change access rules in the Moredun Creek Water source.
* existing access rules prevent water being taken when there is no visible flow at an individual pump site.
* proposed access rules prevents water being taken when flow is 80 ML/day or less at the Gwydir River at Bundarra gauge (418008). This rule is proposed to apply to all access licenses in the water source except for the single Domestic and Stock (Town Water Supply) subcategory access license which is exempt from access rules and pool rules.
Register for the webinar here

NIC media release.
A new report by the Inspector-General of Water Compliance (IGWC) found: "All 78 SDL resource units assessed for the 2023–2024 water accounting year were found to be compliant." 
“The report confirms Sustainable Diversion Limits are being enforced and in fact, water diversions are well under these limits,” said National Irrigators’ Council CEO, Zara Lowien.
“Getting water use below these Sustainable Diversion Limits was a huge feat, and it means 1 in 3 litres of irrigation water are now out of production and remain in rivers.”

 Please join us for the 2025 GVIA Annual General Meeting.
This is also where we ask for nominations for the GVIA committee. The Committee is elected by members at the AGM, the only requirement is that the nominated member is a financial member of the Association and that nomination is endorsed by two other members.
Please find included a link to the GVIA Committee Nomination Form.  This form must be completed and returned to the GVIA by Tuesday the 2nd September 2025.   Click here to RSVP for this Event through our website

Three year Supplementary summary

Please find included the latest updated on the three year supplementary volumes from WaterNSW as of Monday the 11th August. 

NSWIC July Newsletter includes information on the following:
1. Review of Murray Darling Basin Plan begins
2. Stronger Enforcement and Penalties Bill 2025 
3. NRAR enforcement action again BLR user
4. Water for the Environmental Special Account

The NSW Government has declared the Landholder Negotiation Scheme (LNS) as an amendment to the Water Management (General) Regulation 2018 under the Water Management Act 2000, accompanied by statutory negotiation guidelines.
The LNS provides the approach the NSW Government will take when negotiating voluntary agreements with landholders affected by future environmental water deliveries at higher flow levels, or under different regimes, than current operating practice.
An outline of changes made,  is provided in the What we heard report released May 2025. View the What we heard report, new regulation and negotiation guidelines.

GVIA Celebrates 30 years

This month we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the creation of the GVIA following a motion from July 1995 proposing to bring the irrigation associations of Biniguy / Moree Water Users' Association, Carole/Gill Gill Water Users' Association, Copeton / Biniguy Spray Irrigators' Association, Gwydir Co-operative Ltd and the Mehi / Moomin Water Users' Association together to form the Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association. The intention was to "employ and take any necessary action to promote the interests of the irrigators in the Gwydir Valley."


Last week the MDBA released the 2025 Basin Plan Evaluation and the 2025 Sustainable Rivers Audit.
These are encouraging as it shows progress has been made, but there are still concerns which we are reviewing in partnership with National Irrigators Council. 
The findings and key insights from this Evaluation will be considered alongside other key lines of evidence as part of the 2026 Basin Plan Review. The Review is an opportunity for the MDBA to consider the evidence, listen to Basin communities and recommend changes to the Basin Plan.

This month's newsletter bids a farewell to outgoing CEO, Claire Miller and introduces new CEO Dr Madeleine Hartley. 
Claire has done a wonderful job over the past five years helping to grow the membership and profile of the organisation and hence help get the voice of irrigators heard in the community, many of you will have heard her on the Country hour. Thank you for everything Claire.
The new CEO Madeleine will bring a different skill set, with a legal background, something that will no doubt be useful as the Council navigates a path for members through the new NRAR enforcement bill introduced to the upper house last week. We look forward to working with you in the years to come. 

As of Tuesday the Gwydir Unregulated Water Sharing Plan has lapsed.
Water users are still required to operate in accordance with their existing licence and works approval conditions.
WaterNSW will continue to apply dealings (water trades) and approvals as per the current plan provisions, so license holders will still be able to conduct trades.


* Local Water utilities and stock and domestic licence holders have received maximum (100%) allocation
* Regulated High security licences received usual full opening allocation
* Floodplain harvesting licence holders have received full opening allocations
* Supplementary access license holders have received full allocations in the Gwydir

NSWIC latest media release states that "IPART has added to the cost squeeze on NSW farmers with its final determination today to increase rural water bills by up to 8.3% in most valleys for 2025-26."
"NSW Irrigators’ Council CEO Claire Miller said it was disappointing that IPART had shifted from the affordable 1.9% plus CPI price rise proposed in its information paper last month."
“The determination underlines the need for the NSW Government to urgently reform the flawed pricing model and corporate structure driving unaffordable hikes in rural water bills over the last 10 years.”

For the full story follow the link.

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