Sydney
Water access

This note provides information about the water access rights granted by jurisdictions to the users of the region's water resources and the associated allocation announcements, diversions and adjustments and forfeitures. Information about restrictions to water access rights is also included in this note. Information about restrictions to urban consumers is not included in this note, but rather in the urban system's interactions with the region note and in contextual information, under Water rights; Operating rules and constraints.

The 2011 Account acknowledges the varying jurisdictional legislative water resource management frameworks related to Australian rights to water that support water resource management in Australia. The jurisdictional legislative water resource management frameworks vary greatly between jurisdictions, sometimes making comparisons difficult. To facilitate meaningful comparison between the water accounting reports included in the 2011 Account, the Bureau of Meteorology has developed and applied an accounting concept to classify and report water rights within a water-asset/water-liability framework.

Surface water rights are categorised broadly into:

• water rights that may not create a water liability: 32.1 Other statutory surface water rights and 32.2 Surface water access entitlement for direct diversion, or
• water rights that may create a water liability: 32.3 Surface water access entitlement for allocation diversion.

Groundwater rights are categorised broadly into:

• water rights that may not create a water liability: 33.1 Other statutory groundwater rights and 33.2 Groundwater access entitlement for direct extraction, or
• water rights that may create a water liability: 33.3 Groundwater access entitlement for allocation extraction.

In the National Water Account, Other statutory water rights are defined as water rights conferred by water legislation (a water act or water sharing plan), for which there is no individual entitlement.

According to that framework, water rights for the Sydney region for the 2010–11 year have been classified as shown in Tables 1 and 2.

The New South Wales Office of Water categorises the entire Sydney region as an unregulated water source. The reason for this categorisation is that water licences have been granted to harvest unregulated inflows. Therefore, the Draft Water Sharing Plan — Greater Metropolitan Region considers entitlements for all licences within the Sydney region as unregulated entitlements.

Details of bulk water supply agreements between water utilities operating within the region are beyond the scope of the following table. These details are presented at the end of this note.

Table 1 summarises the surface water rights for the Sydney region, including surface water allocations, abstractions and forfeitures and adjustments during the 2010–11 year.

Further details on surface water entitlements and their management can be found in Contextual information under Water rights; Water entitlements.

Table 1. Summarised information on surface water rights, allocations, abstractions and adjustment and forfeiture for the Sydney region during the 2010–11 year 

Water rights (at 30 June 2011)		Water allocation (2010–11)		Water abstraction/use (2010–11)		Forfeiture, adjustment (2010–11)
Account line item	Volume (ML)	Reporting line item	Volume (ML)	Reporting line item	Volume (ML)	Reporting line item	Volume (ML)
32.1 Other statutory surface water rights	32,555	n/a2	n/a	17.6	32,555	n/a	n/a
32.3 Surface water access entitlement for allocated diversion	1,175,500	21.1	149,5351	17.11	23,797	13.1	25,738
		21.2	1,022,8651	17.12	438,169	13.2	584,696
		21.6	3,100	17.16	7,532	13.6	0
Total	1,208,055		1,175,500		502,053		710,434

¹Entitlement values were compiled by the Bureau of Meteorology based on information available in the Draft Water Sharing Plan — Greater Metropolitan Unregulated River Water Sources (NSW Office of Water 2012a) and information received from entitlement holders.

²n/a  = not applicable

Note that water allocations (21.2), abstraction/use (17.12) and forfeiture, adjustment (13.2) shown in Table 1 for the urban water system, do not appear in the water accounting statements because they are transactions that occurred within the region. These transactions did not impact the region's water assets and water liabilities.

More information about the items presented in Table 1 is provided in the linked line item notes.

Groundwater entitlements and rights in the Sydney region represent less than 6% of all water rights in the Sydney region. Groundwater entitlements are mainly used for irrigation, commercial and industry and domestic use, with a small volume (140 ML) entitled to local water utilities. Currently, it is difficult to estimate the abstraction volume as there is currently no reliable quantification method to do so. As a result, basic groundwater rights have been reported in the table below, but have not been included in the water accounting statements of the National Water Account.

For further information on groundwater rights in the Sydney region, see Water entitlements in Contextual information.

Table 2. Summarised information on groundwater rights, allocations, abstractions and forfeiture, adjustment for the Sydney region during the 2010-11 year

Water rights (at 30 June 2011)		Water allocation (2010-11)		Water abstraction/use (2010-11)		Forfeiture, adjustment (2010-11)
Reporting line item	Volume (ML)	Reporting line item	Volume (ML)	Reporting line item	Volume (ML)	Reporting line item	Volume (ML)
33.1 Other statutory groundwater rights	19,652	–1	n/a1	n/a	–	n/a	–
33.3 Groundwater access entitlement for allocation extraction	62,204	–	n/a	n/a	–	n/a	–
Total	81,856		n/a		n/a

¹–  = no data available; n/a  = not applicable

Water restrictions in the Sydney region apply to urban holders of regulated water access entitlements (32.3 Surface water access entitlement for allocation diversion).

Water restrictions applied to the Sydney region during the 2010–11 year are shown Table 3.

 

Table 3. Water restrictions in the Sydney region in 2010–11

Spatial area	Water restrictions during 2010–111
Goulburn Mulwaree Council	Level 3 from 1 June 2010 to 20 December 2010 Normal water use from 21 December 2010 to 30 June 2011
Lithgow City Council	Level 4 until 9 September 2010 Level 2 introduced on 9 September 2010 Level 1 introduced on 28 February 2011
Palerang Council	Water conservation measures
Sydney Water Corporation Blue Mountains, Illawarra and Sydney	Waterwise rules throughout 2010–11 year
Wingecarribee Shire Council	Level 1 (details of restrictions are provided on the their website)

¹All the attributes of a given restriction level are not identical for all utilities. Details of the attributes of a given restriction level for a water utility can be found on their website.

Table 4 provides details of water restrictions applicable for the area managed by Sydney Water Corporation.

Table 4. Water restriction rules applicable to the Blue Mountains, Illawarra and Sydney

Restriction level	Features of the restriction	Additional details
Waterwise rules	Watering, including with sprinklers and irrigation systems, is allowed any day before 10 am and after 4 pm to avoid the heat of the day All hand-held hoses must have a trigger nozzle No hosing of hard surfaces, such as paths and driveways; washing vehicles is allowed Fire hoses may be used for firefighting activities only	Applicable throughout the 2010–11 year
Level 1	No hosing of hard surfaces No sprinklers or watering systems	Introduced when storage levels drop below 60%
Level 2	No hosing of hard surfaces No sprinklers or watering systems No hosing of lawns and gardens except hand-held hosing before 9 am and after 5 pm on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays No filling of new or renovated pools over 10,000 L (except with a permit)	Introduced when storage levels dropped below 50%
Level 3	No hosing of hard surfaces No sprinklers or watering systems Hosing of lawns and gardens only allowed on Wednesdays and Sundays before 10 am and after 4 pm No filling of new or renovated pools over 10,000 L (except with a permit) No hoses or taps to be left running unattended, (except when filling pools or containers) Fire hoses used only for firefighting purposes (not for cleaning)	Introduced when storage levels drop below 40%

No water trading took place in the Sydney region during the 2010–11 year (New South Wales Office of Water and Australian Water Markets Report 2010-11 [National Water Commission 2011b]).

Information on legislative, administrative and governing arrangements of environmental water in the Sydney region is available in the Environmental water management section in Contextual information.

Water for environmental benefit in the region is provided according to three different environmental water management scenarios: planned partly regulated surface water, planned unregulated surface water and held environmental water.

For each scenario, the information, if available, is structured as follows:

• Environmental water determinations: the environmental objectives. They are represented by environmental water provisions defining specific water levels and flow criteria at key representative sites that the water regime provided must meet.
• Environmental water commitments: the instruments in place to achieve the environmental water determination, e.g. environmental water storage release rules, water access rules to limit abstractions, rules on diversion to wetlands and annual environmental watering plans.
• Environmental water outcomes: the water regime that were provided and the extent of the compliance with respect to the criteria set in the environmental water provisions and the environmental water commitments.
  
  

The dominant feature of environmental water management in this scenario is the ability to control or influence flow by operational releases from storage.

 

Environmental water determination

During the 2011 Account, the Sydney Catchment Authority (SCA) held a major utility water management licence under Part 9 of the Water Act 1912 (New South Wales). SCA's Water Management licence includes environmental flow objectives. Specified flows include volumetric and high flow releases from the storages, contingency flows.

Coxs River managed by Delta Electricity

During the 2011 Account, Delta Electricity held a 'Major Utility' Water Management Licence under Part 9 of the Water Act 1912 (New South Wales). Section 1 of the water management licence for Delta Electricity provides high level information on environmental flow objectives.

 

Environmental water commitment

Section 3 of the water management licence for Sydney Catchment Authority specifies environmental flows and objectives for the:

• Hawkesbury-Nepean Rivers excluding the Upper Coxs River
• Shoalhaven River
• Woronora River.

Specified flows include volumetric and high flow releases from the storages, and contingency flows. Details on the Sydney Catchment Authority's environmental flow commitment are available on its website.

Coxs River managed by Delta Electricity

Section 4 of the water management licence for Delta Electricity specifies environmental flow commitment for the Upper Coxs River. Specified flows include volumetric flow releases from the storages and annual channel maintenance flows.


Environmental water outcomes

Table 5. Environmental flows released during the 2011 Account for the Sydney region

Managing authority	Storage /weir	Streams benefiting from environmental flow release	Environmental flow release during 2010–11 (ML)	Volume from the release reaching sea
Delta Electricity	Lake Lyell	Coxs River up to Lake Burragorang (Warragamba Dam)	2,196	01
Sydney Catchment Authority	Cataract	Cataract River up to Broughtons Pass Weir	17,896
	Cordeaux	Cordeaux River up to its confluence with the Avon River, and the Avon and Nepean rivers below that up to Pheasants Nest Weir	8,624
	Avon	Avon River up to its confluence with the Nepean River, and the Nepean River below that up to Pheasants Nest Weir	10,490
	Nepean	Nepean River up to Pheasants Nest Weir	17,495
	Wingecarribee	Wingecarribee River up to Lake Burragorang (Warragamba Dam)	1,095
	Lake Burragorang (Warragamba Dam)	Warragamba, Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers below Lake Burragorang (Warragamba Dam) up to the sea	3,197	3,197
	Pheasants Nest Weir	Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers below the weir up to the sea	38,877	38,877
	Broughtons Pass Weir	Cataract, Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers below the weir up to the sea	24,649	24,649
	Woronora	Woronora River up to its confluence with the Georges River, and the Georges River below that up to the sea	7,126	7,126
	Fitzroy Falls	Yarrunga Creek up to Lake Yarrunga (Tallowa Dam)	9,726	01
	Lake Yarrunga (Tallowa Dam)	Shoalhaven River below Lake Yarrunga (Tallowa Dam) up to the sea	219,245	219,245
Total				293,094

¹Releases from relevant storages contributed to environmental flows from downstream storages/weirs.  Releases from these downstream storages/weirs have been accounted separately in the table.

The environmental flow release from Warragamba Reservoir does not include 7,532 ML released from the banked environmental flow (held environmental water, see following).

The above table provides details of volumes released to meet environmental flow obligations specified in water management licences issued to water utilities. In addition to these obligatory flows, 64,591 ML of treated water was released from wastewater treatment plants and water recycling plants (6,189 ML of the released flow was inflows to downstream storages; see line items 9.9 and 19.5).

Both the Sydney Catchment Authority and Delta Electricity satisfied all necessary compliance requirements associated with environmental flow management for the 2010–11 year.

This type of environmental water management occurs in the single unregulated river in the Sydney region, the Kangaroo River, by controlling the water access regime.

 

Environmental water determination

Kangaroo River

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 1 shows the Kangaroo River Water Sharing Plan area. A proportion of each flow class is set aside for environmental needs.

Figure 1. The Kangaroo River Water Sharing Plan Area (WSP)

Environmental water commitment

Growth in extractions in the Kangaroo River was restricted by establishing long-term extraction limits. New South Wales Office of Water manages the day-to-day operation of the entitlements allocated from the Kangaroo River water source.

 

Environmental water outcome

Information not available.

Although there is no entitlement held for the purpose of providing specific environmental benefit in the Sydney region, this type of environmental water management occurs due to water banked in storages for environmental releases.

Environmental water determination

The Sydney Catchment Authority (SCA) manages banked environmental flow in the Sydney region.

Between 1 June 2005 and 3 March 2008, environmental flow releases into the Hawkesbury–Nepean River required under SCA's water management licence were halved as directed by the minister responsible for water in New South Wales due to the continuing drought. A condition of halving the flows was that the SCA would maintain an environmental water bank in storages.  The objective was to release the banked water as necessary as directed by the minister.

 

Environmental water commitment

The total banked water was 9,795 ML at the beginning of 2010–11 (see line item 5.1 Surface water allocation remaining).

After a period of construction at Pheasant's Nest Dam that disrupted environmental flows, an additional 3,100 ML was added to the banked environmental water during the 2010–11 year.

With the additional 3,100 ML added to the bank, 12,985 ML of water was available in the banked environmental flows during the 2011 Account.

 

Environmental water outcomes

During the 2010–11 year, the minister authorised a release of 28 ML/day from Warragamba Dam from the 5 October 2010 to 30 June 2011. This event released 7,532 ML (see line item 17.11) into the Warragamba River.

At the end of the 2011 Account, the closing balance of environmental water was 5,363 ML at 30 June 2011.

Rights related to economic benefits and relevant water use in 2010–11 in the Sydney region are listed in Table 6.

Table 6. Distribution of water related to economic benefits in the Sydney region during the 2010-11 year

Type of right	Right value (ML)	Purpose of the right	Volume used in 2010–11 (ML)	Source for information
Unregulated water access entitlement	126,437	Other lumped holder category (an unregulated river access licence category) in New South Wales may be issued for a wide range of purposes, including: irrigation commercial industry	17,701 (14% of right volume, see line item 17.11)	Draft Water Sharing Plan — Greater Metropolitan Unregulated River Water Sources (NSW Office of Water 2012a)
Regulated water access entitlement/arrangement	1,045,865	Water provided for power generation	21,308(see line item 11.14)	Delta Electricity
		Release of potable water by Shoalhaven City Council for purposes including: industrial commercial municipal	3,858	Shoalhaven City Council
		Release of nonpotable water by Shoalhaven City Council for purposes including: industrial commercial municipal	2,412	Shoalhaven City Council
Unregulated and regulated water access entitlement — urban holder		Release of potable water by Sydney Water Corporation for purposes including: industrial commercial municipal	106,774	Sydney Water Corporation
Interbasin transfers for power generation	Variable	Water received from Fish River Supply Scheme for power generation	4,677 (included in line item 11.9)	Delta Electricity
Groundwater entitlement — other lumped class	62,204	Other lumped holder category (aquifer licence category) in New South Wales maybe issued for a wide range of purposes, including: irrigation commercial industry	Not available	Draft Water Sharing Plan — Greater Metropolitan Region Groundwater Sources (NSW Office of Water 2012c)

NSW = New South Wales; SCA = Sydney Catchment Authority; SWC = Sydney Water Corporation

The preceeding table is not exhaustive. It is possible that a portion of water provided by utilities not shown in the table was used for economic activities. Such uses have not been separately distinguished.

Water rights directly related to social and cultural benefits identified in the Sydney region for the 2010–11 year were:

• surface water: cultural basic right
• surface water: riparian right
• surface water: stock and domestic licences
• groundwater basic right.

Cultural basic right allows abstraction of water by anyone who holds native title with respect to water, as determined under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cwlth). In the Sydney region, the right was available to abstract water from the Kangaroo River water source. No cultural basic rights were estimated to occur in other areas of the region. The right holders can take and use water for a range of needs without holding a water access licence. This includes accessing water for personal, domestic and noncommercial communal purposes such as:

• manufacturing traditional artefacts
• hunting, fishing and gathering
• recreation
• cultural purposes
• ceremonial purposes.

The riparian right makes provisions to abstract water to meet basic household requirements (noncommercial uses in and around the house and garden) and for watering of stock. This water cannot be used for irrigating crops or garden produce that will be sold or bartered, washing down machinery sheds or intensive livestock operations.

Stock and domestic licences for surface water and groundwater basic rights allow the right holders to abstract water to meet basic requirements for household and stock purposes.

Rights related to social and cultural aspects and relevant water use in the 2010–11 year in the Sydney region are listed in Table 7.

Table 7. Distribution of water rights and use related to social and cultural rights in the Sydney region for 2010-11

Type of water right	Right value (ML)	Volume used in 2010–11 (ML)	Source for information
Cultural basic right for the Kangaroo River subcatchment	27	27 (see line item 17.6)	Kangaroo River Water Source Water Sharing Plan (NSW Office of Water 2010b)
Surface water riparian right	32,528	32 528 (see line item 17.6)	Draft Water Sharing Plan — Greater Metropolitan Region Unregulated River Water Sources (NSW Office of Water 2012a)
Stock and domestic licences	2,344	328 (14% of right value, see line item 17.7)	Draft Water Sharing Plan – Greater Metropolitan Region Unregulated River Water Sources
Groundwater basic rights	19,652	Not available	Draft Water Sharing Plan — Greater Metropolitan Region Groundwater Sources (NSW Office of Water 2012c)

Details of bulk water supply agreements applicable for water utilities operating within the Sydney region are provided in Table 8.

Table 8. Water transfer-out agreements within the Sydney region

Water provider	Water receiver	Agreed volume/supply rate	Other details
Sydney Catchment Authority	Shoalhaven City Council	As requested by Shoalhaven City Council subject to the limit stated in its Water Management Licence (WML)	Water is diverted from Lake Yarrunga (Tallowa Dam) and Bendeela Pondage as specified in the Bulk Water Supply Agreement (BWSA) between two parties
	Wingecarribee Shire Council	Subject to the limit stated in the Wingecarribee Shire Council's WML (40 ML/day)	Water is diverted from Wingecarribee Reservoir as specified in the BWSA between two parties
	Sydney Water Corporation	As agreed between Sydney Water Corporation and the Sydney Catchment Authority	Water is diverted from supplier's storages and weirs to Sydney Water Corporation's water treatment plants (WTPs), excluding North Richmond WTP