NSW Murray and Lower Darling Surface Water Resource Plan
Commonwealth accreditation
All NSW Water Resource Plans (WRPs) were submitted in 2020 to the Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) to assess the plan against accreditation requirements of the Basin Plan 2012. Where plans have been submitted (and not withdrawn), a copy of the submitted Plan and the schedules and appendices is available on the MDBA website. The MDBA is progressing its assessment of NSW WRPs and notifying NSW on the outcome of this assessment. Where further work is required to address accreditation requirements, NSW WRPs are being withdrawn and will be resubmitted. At the time of withdrawal, the submitted documents are removed from the MDBA website. Refer to the Water Resource Plans–status: Water in New South Wales page for the status of each plan.
Changes made to the draft plan based on feedback from public consultation and the MDBA’s preliminary advice is provided in the summary of changes PDF, 285.26 KB fact sheet.
Water sharing plans continue to be the legal instruments for managing water resources in NSW. Water resource plans are put in place to implement the Commonwealth's Basin Plan 2012.
What area does the plan cover?
The NSW Murray and Lower Darling Water Resource Plan covers all the surface water sources within the NSW Murray and Lower Darling water resource plan area.
It includes the regulated river systems, unregulated rivers flowing into the regulated river systems, unregulated effluent creeks flowing out of the regulated river system on the plains, and water captured through farm dams and floodplain water harvesting. The water sources of the New South Wales Murray Regulated River Water Source and the Lower-Darling Regulated River Water Source are within the Lower Murray Darling Water Management Area. The Murray unregulated water sources are those within the Murray Water Management Area. The Lower Murray-Darling Unregulated Water Sources are within the Lower Murray-Darling Water Management Area.
The NSW Murray and Lower Darling Water Resource Plan covers all the surface water sources within the NSW Murray and Lower Darling water resource plan area.
It includes the regulated river systems, unregulated rivers flowing into the regulated river systems, unregulated effluent creeks flowing out of the regulated river system on the plains, and water captured through farm dams and floodplain water harvesting. The water sources of the New South Wales Murray Regulated River Water Source and the Lower-Darling Regulated River Water Source are within the Lower Murray Darling Water Management Area. The Murray unregulated water sources are those within the Murray Water Management Area. The Lower Murray-Darling Unregulated Water Sources are within the Lower Murray-Darling Water Management Area.
Public exhibition - closed
The draft Water Resource Plan, and proposed changes to the existing Water Sharing Plans, were on public exhibition from 4 September 2019 to 25 October 2019. All submissions that were received during this period have been reviewed by the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.
The following respondents agreed to have their submissions published on this website. Note that not all respondents elected to have their submissions published.
The views expressed in the submissions are the views of the respondents. While the department seeks to ensure that offensive material is not published, the department is not responsible for the views expressed in the submissions.
The public exhibition period provided valuable feedback that helped develop and inform proposed changes to the Water Sharing Plan and Water Resource Plan.
Water Sharing Plans
30 June 2020
The progress of changes to the water sharing plan as part of the water resource plan development can be found below
- Plan as submitted to MDBA, pending commencement Water Sharing Plan PDF, 1190.89 KB for the NSW Murray and Lower Darling Regulated Rivers Water Sources 2020
- Amended Water Sharing Plan PDF, 1288.07 KB for the Murray Unregulated River Water Sources 2011
- Amended Water Sharing Plan PDF, 1142.64 KB for the Lower Murray-Darling Unregulated River Water Source 2011
The changes between the draft (March 2020) and current draft for the NSW Murray and Lower Darling regulated remade plan pending commencement and the Murray Unregulated unregulated and Lower Murray-Darling unregulated plans, can be seen in the track-changes document below (some changes may not be immediately visible due to template updates).
- Track change compared March 2020 to June 2020 Water Sharing Plan PDF, 1526.12 KB for the NSW Murray and Lower Darling Regulated Rivers Water Sources 2020
- Track change compared March 2020 to June 2020 Water Sharing Plan PDF, 2449.25 KB for the Murray Unregulated River Water Sources 2011
- Track change compared March 2020 to June 2020 Water Sharing Plan PDF, 1592.64 KB for the Lower Murray-Darling Unregulated River Water Source 2011
A report titled 'What we heard PDF, 2088.8 KB' has been prepared post the consultation across the NSW Murray-Darling Basin to capture key areas of feedback and provide transparency around how the issues that were raised are being addressed. It also outlines further plans and processes for addressing water sharing and management issues going forward. A supplementary report PDF, 176.82 KB has also been prepared to respond to the specific feedback and issues raised in relation to the Murray Lower Darling Water Sharing Plan
March 2020
Further targeted sessions with the stakeholder advisory panel (SAP) were held in March and April 2020, provided additional input into the water sharing plans.
- Draft Water Sharing Plan PDF, 1220.9 KB for NSW Murray and Lower Darling Regulated Rivers Water Sources 2020
- Draft Water Sharing Plan PDF, 1665.76 KB for Murray Unregulated River Water Sources 2011
- Draft Water Sharing Plan PDF, 1361.03 KB for Lower Murray-Darling Unregulated River Water Source 2011
Public exhibition (September to October 2019)
- Public exhibition draft Water Sharing Plan PDF, 1517.01 KB for NSW Murray and Lower Darling Regulated Rivers Water Sources 2020
- Public exhibition draft Water Sharing Plan PDF, 1360.61 KB for Murray Unregulated River Water Sources 2011
- Public exhibition draft Water Sharing Plan PDF, 1279.72 KB for Lower Murray-Darling Unregulated River Water Source 2011
If you require assistance in reading these documents, please contact +61 2 9338 6600 or water.relations@dpie.nsw.gov.au
Public information sessions
Public information sessions were held at:
- Corowa, 17 September 2019
- Deniliquin, 18 September 2019
- Barham, 18 September 2019
- Dareton, 19 September 2019
Download the presentation from the above information sessions.