Planning framework for environmental water
Statutory environmental water plans
There are a range of statutory water management plans that may be prepared under the Water Management Act 2000. They include water sharing plans, which are prepared by the NSW Office of Water (NOW) and adaptive environmental water use plans, which are prepared by the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) and approved by NOW.
Water sharing plans establish rules for sharing water between the environment and water users, as well as between different types of water users. These plans have been developed for all of the major inland regulated rivers as well as many unregulated rivers.
Where additional water has been recovered for environmental use, it is held as water access licences. OEH has prepared adaptive environmental water use plans to manage this licensed environmental water which satisfy the requirements of the Water Management Act.
These are all RiverBank target valleys for environmental watering. These plans link to the objectives of the relevant water sharing plans.
Annual environmental watering plans
OEH prepares annual environmental watering plans which outline the priorities for how environmental water may be used in the coming year, depending on climatic factors and water availability. The annual environmental watering plans for 2012-13 are available on these pages for the following valleys:
Gwydir Macquarie Lachlan MurrumbidgeeMurray and Lower Darling.Adaptive environmental water management plans
Adaptive environmental water management plans are strategic wetland complex plans that provide a link between environmental water management, catchment action plans developed by CMAs and activities undertaken by other government agencies. They identify environmental assets and values, assess water-use priorities, and outline the water and land management issues that need to be addressed to support environmental values. Plans developed to date include:
Page last updated: 07 November 2012
