Summary of current water allocations

The tables below summarise the current water year allocations for:

regulated rivers
unregulated rivers, and
groundwater water sources.

Allocations that are normally expressed in megalitres per unit share–for example high security, general security and aquifer access–are expressed as percentages in the tables below. One megalitre (ML) per unit share equates to 100% allocation, whereas 0.50 ML per share equates to 50% allocation and 0.05 ML per share equates to 5% allocation.

Rules for sharing water between water users and the environment are outlined in each respective water sharing plan, as well as defining shares in the available water for licence holders.

Carryover water

Water users may have access to water in their account carried over unused from the previous year. Carryover rules vary between water sources and between licence categories. Towns, domestic and stock, and most high security licence categories cannot carryover.

Drought stage

The current drought stage for each inland river valley is listed in the table. These can range from Stage 1 (Normal operations) to Stage 4 (Critical drought). The drought stage is determined by the extent of operational, allocation or restriction measures that may need to be applied during water shortages or as the system recovers. Further information is available at extreme events.

Drought stage per water source

Water source	System type*	Drought stage	Date of last stage change
Lower Darling	Regulated river	Stage 1	April 2021
Barwon-Darling	Unregulated river	Stage 1	April 2021
Lower Namoi	Regulated river	Stage 1	January 2021
Upper Namoi	Regulated river	Stage 1	January 2021
Macquarie	Regulated river	Stage 1	September 2020
Cudgegong	Regulated river	Stage 1	August 2020
Gwydir	Regulated river	Stage 1	January 2021
NSW Border Rivers	Regulated river	Stage 1	April 2021
Belubula	Regulated river	Stage 1	April 2021
Peel	Regulated river	Stage 1	January 2021
Lachlan	Regulated river	Stage 1	September 2020
Murray	Regulated river	Stage 1	August 2020
Murrumbidgee	Regulated river	Stage 1	August 2019
Hunter	Regulated river	Stage 1	August 2020
Richmond	Regulated river	Stage 1	February 2020
Bega/Brogo	Regulated river	Stage 1	February 2020

Current allocations - regulated rivers

River valley	Allocations 2022-23	Licence category	Date of last allocation increase
Murray*	110%	General security	15 August 2022
	100%	High security	15 August 2022
	100%	Domestic and stock	1 July 2022
	100%	Local water utilities	1 July 2022
Lower Darling*	100%	General security	1 July 2022
	100%	High security	1 July 2022
	100%	Domestic and stock	1 July 2022
	100%	Local water utilities	1 July 2022
Murrumbidgee*	100%	General security	16 January 2023
	100%	High security	16 January 2023
	100%	Domestic and stock	1 July 2022
	100%	Local water utilities	1 July 2022
Lachlan*	118%	General security	5 May 2023
	100%	High security	1 July 2022
	100%	Domestic and stock	1 July 2022
	100%	Local water utilities	1 July 2022
Belubula*	0%	General security	1 July 2022
	100%	High security	1 July 2022
	100%	Domestic and stock	1 July 2022
Macquarie and Cudgegong*	100%	General security	6 September 2022
	100%	High security	6 September 2022
	100%	High security (sub categories)	1 July 2022
	100%	Domestic and stock	1 July 2022
	100%	Local water utilities	1 July 2022
Lower Namoi*	218%	General security	7 June 2023
	100%	High security	1 July 2022
	100%	High security (sub categories)	1 July 2022
	100%	Domestic and stock	1 July 2022
	100%	Local water utilities	1 July 2022
Upper Namoi*	100%	General security	1 July 2022
	100%	High security	1 July 2022
	100%	Domestic and stock	1 July 2022
	100%	Local water utilities	1 July 2022
Peel	100%	General security	1 July 2022
	100%	High security	1 July 2022
	100%	Domestic and stock	1 July 2022
	100%	Local water utilities	1 July 2022
Gwydir*	321%	General security	5 May 2023
	100%	High security	1 July 2022
	100%	Domestic and stock	1 July 2022
	100%	Local water utilities	1 July 2022
NSW Border Rivers*	100%	General security A Class	1 July 2022
	221%	General security B Class	24 May 2023
	100%	High security	1 July 2022
	100%	Domestic and stock	1 July 2022
	100%	Local water utilities	1 July 2022
Richmond	100%	General security	1 July 2022
	100%	High security	1 July 2022
	100%	Domestic and stock	1 July 2022
	100%	Local water utilities	1 July 2022
Paterson*	100%	General security	1 July 2022
	100%	High security	1 July 2022
	100%	Domestic and stock	1 July 2022
	100%	Local water utilities	1 July 2022
Hunter*	100%	General security	1 July 2022
	100%	High security	1 July 2022
	100%	Domestic and stock	1 July 2022
	100%	Local water utilities	1 July 2022
Bega-Brogo	50%	General security	16 February 2023
	100%	High security	1 July 2022
	100%	Domestic and stock	1 July 2022
	100%	Local water utilities	1 July 2022

* Carryover water may also be available.

Current allocations - unregulated rivers

River valley	Current allocation (2022-23) water year	Licence category	Date of allocation
All unregulated river water sources*	Full allocations	All categories	1 July 2022