Partnering with Aboriginal peoples
Water for Country is environmental water use planned by the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water and Aboriginal people to achieve shared benefits for the environment and cultural places, values and/or interests.
In 2025–26, we will partner with Aboriginal peoples and organisations in the Lachlan catchment. This includes programs to consider Aboriginal rights and values in environmental water planning, delivery and monitoring. For example:
- working with the Lachlan Regional Aboriginal Water Committee
- strengthening Aboriginal peoples’ role in monitoring on-Country outcomes on the Flow-MER 2.0 long-term monitoring program with Canberra University
- supporting the Condobolin Wiradjuri community for Murie Creek and ensuring they are involved in the long-term water plan
- ensuring Water for Country content is included in the Great Cumbung regional water management plan
- continuing to partner with Mutthi Mutthi to build on the 2024 watering of Box Creek by exploring opportunities to improve connectivity down the creek
- working with Aboriginal peoples to develop Water for Country content for the long-term water plan.
Key planned actions
Native fish
Flows are planned to provide suitable nesting conditions for Murray cod in the Lachlan River. Water for the environment will be delivered en route as part of a multi-site action, providing up to 35 gigalitres of water down the Lachlan River into the Great Cumbung Swamp.
A contingency of water for the environment may also be used to provide refuge during periods of poor water quality, in conjunction with the water sharing plan’s water quality allowance.
Waterbirds
Water for the environment delivered to the Great Cumbung Swamp and Willandra Creek will provide foraging habitats for migratory wader birds, such as the Australasian bittern and the little bittern.
Up to 10 gigalitres of water for the environment will be made available as a contingency to support bird breeding events, such as pelican breeding at Lake Brewster.
Vegetation
Water managers will build on the recovery of floodplain vegetation including:
- lignum shrublands in Willandra Creek
- phragmites reed beds and river red gum woodland in the Great Cumbung Swamp, as part of the multi-site action of up to 35 gigalitres, while also providing habitat and consolidating the recovery of the re-established population of the endangered southern bell frog population.
Additional volumes of up to 8 gigalitres are being considered to promote seed setting and aquatic plant establishment in the inflow and outflow wetland sections of Lake Brewster, which filter water that goes into and out of the lake’s storage cell.
All these watering events will also contribute to waterbird and connectivity outcomes.
Connectivity
The multi-site watering action into the Great Cumbung Swamp is expected to provide benefits en route along the length of the Lachlan River, including supporting the nesting, dispersal, growth and reproduction of Murray cod and other native fish. This includes increased flows and improved fish passage through distributary creeks.
Proposed annual priority targets in the Lachlan water resource plan area
For more information, go to our Annual environmental watering priorities 2025–26 webpage, which includes each catchment’s resource availability scenario and expected volumes of environmental water available.
