Canberra
Administration
Surface water and groundwater
Water legislation
ACT
The Water Resources Act 2007 (ACT) provides for the management of surface water and groundwater resources within the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) state boundaries through the issuing of Water Access Entitlements (WAEs) and water licences.
The Territory Plan 2008 (ACT) provides the policy framework for the administration of planning in the ACT. It also details the management policies for each environmental value for each catchment and serves as an umbrella document for the 2006 Environmental Flow Guidelines.
Lake Burley Griffin is a Commonwealth Government responsibility and is administered under the Lake Ordinance 1976.
NSW
The Water Management Act 2000 governs the management of majority of surface and groundwater resources within New South Wales. Canberra is not yet covered and remains managed by the Water Act 1912 (NSW).
Water management plans
ACT
The Canberra region is divided into 14 separate water management areas (WMAs) managed by the ACT Government's Environmental and Sustainable Development Directorate (ESDD). Within these 14 water management areas are 32 sub catchment areas. Each of these WMAs is consistent with the planning framework of the Territory Plan 2008. The first Territory Plan came into effect in October 1993. Some of these water management areas fall outside the ACT state boundaries; however, the ACT Government has an interest in these areas as they supply water to, or flow through, the ACT.
The ACT Government manages the sections of these WMAs that fall within ACT boundaries. The NSW Government manages the sections that fall outside the ACT boundaries. The WMA boundaries are shown in Figure A1.
Figure A1 Map of water management areas in the Canberra region
WMAs cover both surface water and groundwater resources. Within each WMA, maximum surface water plus groundwater abstraction was set. The management of WMA is dictated by the primary environmental value of the subcatchment. Subcatchments within the ACT boundaries are assigned one of three potential primary environmental values:
- conservation
- water supply
- drainage and open space.
The management policies for each type of catchment are detailed in section 11.8 of the Territory Plan 2008 (ACT).
Table A1 shows the WMAs in the Canberra region, their associated maximum surface water and groundwater abstraction threshold, and their primary environmental value.
Water management area |
Maximum surface water plus groundwater available for abstraction (ML)2 |
Maximum groundwater available for abstraction (ML)1 |
Sub-catchment areas1 |
Primary environmental Value |
Upper Murrumbidgee3
|
2,5174 |
640 |
Michelago3 |
Conservation |
Tharwa |
Conservation |
|||
Kambah |
Conservation |
|||
Guises |
Conservation |
|||
Tennent |
Conservation |
|||
Lower Murrumbidgee |
29,925 |
189 |
Uriarra |
Conservation |
Woodstock |
Conservation |
|||
Naas |
2,641 |
855 |
Naas |
Conservation |
Gudgenby |
3,558 |
1,170 |
Gudgenby |
Conservation |
Cotter |
111,408 |
2,050 |
Corin |
Water supply |
Bendora |
Water supply |
|||
Lower Cotter |
Water supply |
|||
Paddys |
2,905 |
909 |
Paddys |
Drainage |
Tuggeranong |
1,461 |
190 |
Tuggeranong |
Drainage |
Upper Molonglo |
102 |
24 |
Upper Molonglo |
Conservation |
Central Molonglo |
7,832 |
685 |
Kowen |
Conservation |
Fyshwick |
Conservation |
|||
Jerrabomberra |
Drainage and open space |
|||
Lake Burley Griffith |
Conservation |
|||
Woolshed |
Drainage and open space |
|||
Sullivans |
Drainage and open space |
|||
Lower Molonglo |
3,304 |
297 |
Coppins |
Conservation |
Wooden |
Drainage and open space |
|||
Weston |
Drainage and open space |
|||
Lower Queanbeyan |
7 |
0 |
Lower Queanbeyan |
Conservation |
Jerrabomberra headwaters |
0 |
0 |
Jerrabomberra headwaters |
n/a5 |
Googong catchment |
98,914 |
0 |
Tinderry |
n/a5 |
Googong |
n/a5 |
|||
Burra |
n/a5 |
|||
Ginninderra |
5,352 |
239 |
Gungahlin |
Drainage and open space |
Lake Ginninderra |
Drainage and open space |
|||
|
Parkwood |
Drainage and open space |
||
Total |
269,926 |
7,248 |
|
|
Table Notes:
2 ACT Government, Water Resources Act 2007.
3 Only part of this area or subcatchment is contained within the Canberra region.
4 This maximum abstraction includes an allowance for those parts of the WMAs that lie outside the Canberra region.
5 It is not covered by ACT Government water management plans.
NSW
The NSW Government has yet to finalise its water sharing plans for the Canberra region.
The Groundwater Management Areas (GMAs) in the NSW part of the Canberra region are currently subject to embargoes that do not allow for new groundwater licences to be issued unless exemption criteria are met.
Groundwater management area |
Embargo |
Lachlan Fold Belt GMA |
New South Wales Inland Groundwater Shortage Zones Order No. 2 2008 |
Mid and Upper Murrumbidgee Fractured Rock GMA, Yass Catchment |
New South Wales Inland Groundwater Shortage Zones Order No. 1 2008 |
Environmental water management
Environmental water legislation
ACT
Environmental water within the Canberra region is managed by the ACT Government, Environmental and Sustainable Development Directorate (ESDD). The Water Resources Act 2007 (ACT) provides for the identification and management of water for ecosystems which are identified in the 2006 Environmental Flow Guidelines.
Environmental water in the Canberra region is delivered in two ways:
- releases from storages
- restrictions on the volume of water that can be abstracted from a catchment (National Water Commission 2012).
The 2006 Environmental Flow Guidelines provide guidance on ecological objectives, environmental flow components and environmental flow requirements for the region.
NSW
The Water Management Act 2000 recognises the following classes of environmental water:
- environmental health water: water that is committed for fundamental ecosystem health at all times, and may not be taken or used for other purposes
- supplementary environmental water: water that is committed for specified environmental purposes at specified times or in specified circumstances, but may, at other times and in other circumstances, be taken and used for other purposes
- adaptive environmental water: water that, pursuant to an access licence, is committed for specified environmental purposes, either generally or at specified times or in specified circumstances.
Rules for the identification, establishment and maintenance of each class of environmental water (environmental water rules) are to be established for all of the water sources in the State, by means of a management plan, as soon as practicable after the commencement of the Act.
For groundwater, the Water Sharing Plan for the NSW Murray–Darling Basin Porous Rock Groundwater Sources was established under the Water Act and commenced on 16 January 2012.
Environmental water provisions
ACT
Environmental water provisions are the responsibility of the relevant ACT Minister and are administered and managed through the ACT Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
The 2006 Environmental Flow Guidelines is the primary document which outlines environmental water provisions in the ACT. The purpose of the guidelines is to identify the components of flow from the variable flow regime that are necessary to maintain stream health (National Water Commission 2012).
The 2006 Environmental Flow Guidelines categorise each of the 14 WMAs and 32 subcatchments outlined in the Territory Plan 2008 as one of four possible aquatic ecosystem types and assigns each an environmental management goal. The ecosystem categories and their environmental management goals are described in Table A3 below.
Category of aquatic ecosystem |
Description |
Management goal |
Water bodies in this category |
Natural ecosystems (conservation catchments) |
Ecosystems that persisted in a relatively pristine condition |
Primary goal: maintain aquatic ecosystems in their pristine state Secondary goals: range of functions including recreation |
Water bodies in Namadgi National Park, except the Cotter River catchmentWater bodies in Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve |
Water supply ecosystems (water supply catchments) |
Ecosystems in catchments designated to provide the ACT water supply |
Primary goal: provide water supply Secondary goals: range of functions including conservation and recreation |
Water bodies in the Cotter River catchment, Googong foreshore area and Queanbeyan River downstream of Googong Reservoir |
Created ecosystems (drainage and open space catchments) |
Ecosystems in urban lakes, ponds and streams that developed as a result of urbanisation |
Range of functions including recreation, conservation and irrigation |
Water bodies within the urban area excluding the Molonglo River |
Modified ecosystems (conservation catchments) |
Ecosystems modified by catchment activities (land use change, discharges) or by changes to the flow regime |
Range of functions including recreation, conservation and irrigation |
All water bodies not included in the other three categories, includes Murrumbidgee and Molonglo rivers and Lake Burley Griffin |
Source: 2006 Environmental Flow Guidelines, ACT Government 2006b
The 2006 Environmental Flow Guidelines also identify four components of environmental flow to be maintained within these ecosystem types. These are provided below in Table A4.
Environmental flow component |
Description |
Example flow requirement |
Base flow |
Quantity of water that flows down a waterway during periods between rainfall events |
|
Flooding flows |
Increases in streamflow following storm events that are important for maintenance of aquatic ecosystems and channel structure. These include:
|
|
Special purpose flows |
Volumes of water designed to meet specific ecosystem requirements, for example, the inundation of a wetland |
|
Maintenance of impoundment levels |
Maintenance of water levels in lakes, ponds and reservoirs to protect the ecosystem of the waterbody |
|
Source: 2006 Environmental Flow Guidelines, ACT Government 2006b
NSW
The Water Management Act 2000 (section 8) defines environmental water. In addition to environmental water defined under section 8, NSW Office of Water recognises that a significant number of water access licences are purchased and/or held for an environmental purpose. This type of licensed environmental water is described in the Environmental Water Register as having a 'non-statutory' environmental purpose. A licence is classified as having a 'non-statutory' environmental purpose by agreement between NSW Office of Water and the holder of the respective licence.
This register provides a record of:
- licensed environmental water
- environmental water set aside as 'rules' in water sharing plans
- environmental water use plans approved by the Minister.
The register also provides reports on:
- the assignment of water allocations to and from adaptive environmental water access licences and
- changes in the share component of adaptive environmental water access licences over time.
Organisations responsible for water management
The organisations that are responsible for water management within the Canberra region are detailed in Table A5.
Organisation | Role | Major storage managed by organisation |
ACT Government, Environmental and Sustainable Development Directorate (ESDD) |
|
n/a |
ACTEW Corporation (trading as ACTEW Water) |
|
|
NSW Office of Environment and Heritage |
|
n/a |
NSW Office of Water |
|
n/a |
ACT Government, Department of Territory and Municipal Services |
|
|
National Capital Authority |
|
|
Queanbeyan City Council |
|
n/a |
Palerang Council |
|
n/a |