Sydney: Water access and use
Approximately 87% of the region's water allocations were for urban supply, primarily for residential use. Total water use increased marginally during the year, which follows the general trend of gradually increasing water use over the last five years.
For further information on water rights and water use within the Sydney region during the year scroll down this page or click on the links below:
Water rights, entitlements, allocations and restrictions
Surface water rights
Figure S10 Surface water allocations and diversions in the Sydney region for the years ending 30 June, from 2012–2017
- Surface water allocations for individual users and the urban water system remained unchanged from the previous year. These allocations generally change little from year to year.
- Actual diversions to the urban system increased marginally from the previous year, following a general increasing trend over the last few years.
Figure S11 Surface water allocation to individual users for each licence purpose for the 2016–17 year
- 13% of the total surface water allocated was for individual users. These licences primarily relate to water diversions for other lumped holders.
Groundwater rights
- Groundwater entitlements represent a small portion of the total water entitlements in the region.
- Groundwater extractions made under these entitlements are not presented in the account as they could not be estimated and there is currently no reliable quantification method.
Water restrictions
- Base level or permanent water restrictions that are common practice for promoting water conservation and efficient use of water in the community were in place during the 2016–17 year.
- For more information, refer to the Bureau of Meteorology's Water Restrictions website.
Water use
Economic and social benefit
- For a summary of the water used for various economic and social purposes within the region, refer to Surface water rights and Groundwater rights above.
Environmental and cultural benefit
Environmental and cultural water provisions
- Provisions to protect the environmental and cultural values of water systems are defined in the region's water sharing plans.
- The main mechanisms to maintain surface water for environmental and cultural benefit are annual diversion limits, daily access rules, and environmental flow release requirements from water storages.
- The main mechanisms to maintain groundwater for environmental and cultural benefit are annual extraction limits and restrictions on water supply works near environmentally and culturally sensitive sites.
- For more detail, refer to the Water management note and the water sharing plans for the Greater Metropolitan Region Unregulated River Water Sources and Groundwater Sources.
Environmental and cultural water outcomes
Figure S12 Surface water environmental flow releases in 2016–17
- In 2016–17, environmental flow releases totalling 260,000 ML were made at eleven river locations in the region.
- The largest environmental release, representing about 70% of the total, occurred in the Shoalhaven River below Tallowa Dam (Lake Yarrunga).