2020 Water sharing plan reviews (5 plans)




Status:

Advice provided

Advice date:

April-May 2020

Summary

We reviewed the following water sharing plans to assess the extent to which the plans have achieved their environmental, social, cultural and economic outcomes, and advised on whether changes to the plan provisions are warranted.

  1. Water Sharing Plan for the Central Coast Unregulated River Water Sources 2009
  2. Water Sharing Plan for the Coffs Harbour Area Unregulated and Alluvial Water Sources 2009
  3. Water Sharing Plan for the Hunter Unregulated and Alluvial Water Sources 2009
  4. Water Sharing Plan for the Lower North Coast Unregulated and Alluvial Water Sources 2009
  5. Water Sharing Plan for the Peel Valley Regulated, Unregulated, Alluvium and Fractured Rock Water Sources 2010

We recommended that the water sharing plan for:

  • Central Coast be extended for two years until June 2022 to allow enough resources to make required plan improvements, and replaced by June 2022 to address the Commission's recommendations
  • Coffs Harbour be extended for two years until June 2022 to allow enough resources to make required plan improvements, and replaced by June 2022 to address the Commission's recommendations
  • Hunter be extended for two years until June 2022 to allow enough additional time for the completion of studies and to make required plan improvements, and replaced by July 2022 to address the Commission's recommendations
  • Lower North Coast be extended for two years until June 2022 to allow enough resources to make required plan improvements, and replaced by June 2022 to address the Commission's recommendations.

The water sources for the Peel Valley will be split across four water sharing plans in July 2020. We recommended that priority issues carried over to the Water Sharing Plan for the Peel Regulated River 2020 be addressed by July 2020. Other issues should be addressed in the new plans by July 2022 to allow time for additional studies and consultation.

The Government supported our recommendations by approving the extension of Central Coast, Lower North Coast, Hunter and Coffs Harbour plans for up to two years. For the Peel Valley plan, the Government actioned four of our recommendations and will consider the remaining recommendations over the next two years.

Key documents