This page explains how legislation, plans and provisions are applied for surface, ground and environmental water. It also lists the organisations responsible for water management in this region.
All areas within the Sydney region, with the exception of the Kangaroo River Unregulated Water Source, are operating in accordance with the Water Act 1912 (New South Wales). The Kangaroo River Unregulated Water Source is operating in accordance with the Water Management Act 2000 (New South Wales).
These legislative arrangements will continue until the commencement of the Greater Metropolitan Unregulated Water Sharing Plan, which will move the management of the entire area to the Water Management Act 2000 (New South Wales).
There are three further legislative acts directly relevant to water management activities in the Sydney region:
The Kangaroo River Unregulated Water Source is operating under a water sharing plan. The Water Sharing Plan for the Kangaroo River Water Source defines flow rules for water users and environmental flow provisions in accordance with the Water Management Act 2000 (New South Wales).
There are currently no approved water management plans for the remainder of the region. The Greater Metropolitan Unregulated Water Sharing Plan was finalised and commences on 1 July 2011 for a period of ten years.
Water licences issued in the past under the Water Act 1912 (New South Wales) were given an area-based entitlement enabling a licence holder to use water on the licensed area. Between 2000 and 2004, a process of volumetric conversion took place, which converted these licences to a volumetric entitlement for unregulated rivers. These conversions also established limits on the annual volume extractable. A volumetric allocation scheme will be launched to converted entitlements with the introduction of the Greater Metropolitan Unregulated Water Sharing Plan in accordance with the Water Management Act 2000 (New South Wales).
Groundwater in the Sydney region is managed in accordance with Water Act 1912 (New South Wales). This management regime will continue until the commencement of the Greater Metropolitan Groundwater Sharing Plan, which will move the groundwater management to the Water Management Act 2000 (New South Wales).
Figure A1 shows groundwater management units in the Sydney region. Information on the management units and sources for groundwater in the Sydney region is available in the Background document for the Draft Water Sharing Plan – Greater Metropolitan Region groundwater sources.
Figure A1. Groundwater management units in the Sydney region (data source: NSW Office of Water)
In the absence of the Greater Metropolitan Groundwater Sharing Plan, the NSW Office of Water is currently taking steps necessary to manage groundwater resources including:
The regulating authority overseeing environmental flow management in the Sydney region is the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage.
For the areas operating under the Water Act 1912 (New South Wales), environmental flow management is based on the provisions made in the water management licences. The specifics of these provisions are diverse and dependent upon where a licence is located. In general they define visible flow access rules or gauge height access rules. These flow rules were specified in the water management licences issued to water utilities that release water for environmental purposes.
More details about the status of current environmental water management arrangements covering the Sydney region can be found in the National Water Commission report, The Australian environmental water management report 2010.
The Water Sharing Plan for the Kangaroo River Water Source states that water must be allocated for the fundamental health of the river and river-dependent ecosystems, such as wetlands and floodplains, as a first priority. This is achieved by establishing flow classes at a specified flow reference point. The flow reference point is the Kangaroo River at Hampden Bridge (Station 215220). Figure A2 shows the Kangaroo River Water Sharing Plan (WSP) area. A proportion of each flow class is set aside for environmental needs. Growth in extractions was restricted by establishing long-term extraction limits. NSW Office of Water manages the day-to-day operation of the entitlements allocated from the Kangaroo River water source.
Figure A2. The Kangaroo River Water Sharing Plan area
Table A1 presents information on organisations responsible for water management activities within the Sydney region.
Table A1. Organisations and utilities responsible for water management activities within the Sydney region
|
Organisation |
Responsibility |
Storage reservoirs operated within the region |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (within the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
National Water Account 2010
Related links
Water links
This page was created at 01:11 on Tuesday 1 February 2011 (GMT)
© Copyright Commonwealth of Australia 2011, Bureau of Meteorology (ABN 92 637 533 532)
Please note the Copyright Notice and Disclaimer statements relating to the use of the information on this site and our site Privacy and Accessibility statements. Users of these web pages are deemed to have read and accepted the conditions described in the Copyright, Disclaimer, and Privacy statements. Please also note the Acknowledgement notice relating to the use of information on this site. No unsolicited commercial email.
