NSW is to be the first State in Australia to measure floodplain harvesting as part of its historic water reform action plan.
The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) said the new Floodplain Harvesting Measurement Policy outlined how floodplain harvesting would be measured and monitored, in preparation for issuing floodplain harvesting access licences next year.
Minister for Water, Melinda Pavey said the Policy delivered on efforts to develop an advanced, transparent and fair water management system for the whole state.
“NSW has been the focus of intense public criticism for years, despite having its laws reformed, creating a new compliance agency in the independent Natural Resources Access Regulator and beefing up water metering and monitoring,” Mrs Pavey said.
“NSW is recovering from the worst drought in its recorded history and our communities have bent over backwards to return water to the environment,” she said.
“This Policy should provide a framework for other states to align with the same standards in management, compliance and transparency that NSW has worked so hard to achieve.”
Mrs Pavey said the Policy was another step towards regulating and measuring floodplain harvesting in NSW and was key to developing a fairer system of floodplain access that balanced the needs of industry and communities with those of the environment.
“The policy comes after more than six years of consultation and aligns with the 2017 Matthews’ Report, which was earmarked to be licensed in the first water sharing plan back in 2003,” she said.
“This is the last form of water take to be regulated in NSW and the development of a measurement policy is a historic turning point for our water management system.”
She said the Policy would provide landholders access to near-real time data for storage volumes and make it easier for landholders to work within their licensed water share volume.
