GWYDIR VALLEY IRRIGATORS ASSOCIATION

News

This week NSW Irrigators Council launched #irrigationMatters This will primarily be a social Media campaign, please share as our communities and our irrigation businesses do matter, 

“Our growers are not just producing for today – they are investing in the future of Australian agriculture. They are growing the food we eat, the fibre we rely on and building farms they want to hand on to the next generation.

“Water policy must give them the certainty to keep producing for Australia, now and into the future.” Media available here

Video to share here 

Facebook

The August newsletter from NSW Irrigators council provides information on 
1. The water Act review: including a link to their submission which focuses on 
a) Strengthen the tripple bottom line
b) Ensure consistency between all licenced water and 
c) Maximising the outcomes of the CEWH porfolio
2. NSW budget estimares
3. The release of the National Water Agreement (which has not been signed by any states)

The NSWIC monthly newsletter reinforces the importance of getting policy settings right to support regional NSW into the future. The endless process of reviews and reforms continues. The newsletter includes comment on the following:

  1. Water Act Review discussion paper consultation underway
  2. 2024-25 SDL accounting shows perfect score
  3. NSWIC GM July event wrap up 
  4. Productivity Commission Review into National Water Iniative

The August Water Allocation Statement makes no changes to ECA or General security allocations. An account reconciliation reduced the General security balance by 10GL.
The s324 remains in place for access to FPH and Supplementary entitlements, however restrictions are temporarily lifted as there is approximately 264GL in the upper lakes at Menindee. The restriction will come back into force if the upper lakes drop to 250GL. 
There is an average 86% account balance for General Security and a 135% account balance for the environmental allowance. 

The Management zones and ecological assets associated with the Gwydir Floodplain Management Plan are now available on an intereactive map. This will be useful to help identify which parts of your landholding fit in which zone, and the location of ecological assestsas determined by the government. 
Submissions on the Gwydir Plan review have been extended and are due on Tuesday 18th August. Submission can be made following links on this department page. Summary of changes are available here

Critical items to consider include: 1. Management of historical works
2. Additional requirements for works in management zones A and D (details available here)

The Floodplain Management Plan for the Gwydir Valley Floodplain 2016 is currently being reviewed. This plan set the rules for flood work development on the floodplains, including what type of flood works can be constructed and where. 
Under the Water Management Act 2000, floodplain management plans must be reviewed in the 5 years before they expire to ensure they continue to effectively support the needs of communities, landholders and the environment.  An  initial review was undertaken in 2022, There is currently the opportunity to provide feedback on how the plan is working and wherer it can be improve
Submissions are open from Monday 20th July 2026 and have been extended to 11:59 pm on Tuesday 18th August 2026

WaterNSW have released a fact sheet providing information on water use data..
Water-use data recorded through pulse outputs, Local Intelligence Devices (LIDs) and the Data Acquisition Service (DAS) may not always exactly match the meter reading displayed in the field.
The fact sheet explains how the systems work together to capture and transmit water-use information, why differences between DAS data and meter readings can occur, and what steps to take if you notice something that doesn’t look right.

The July Water Allocation Statement came out today. No surprises with 0% allocation. There is 449GL in the General Security accounts (88%) and 61GL in the Environmental allowance (135%). High security, Supplementary and FPH licence holders received their maximum 9100%) allocation.
During June approx. 2.1GL of ECA water was delivered. 
In the 2025-26 water year GS began with 69% of entitlement, there were three allocation increments made resulting in total allocation of 67% for the 2025-26 year. There was a useage of approx 39% of entitlement (198GL). Supplementary access licences received 40% of entitlements (72GL).
Good rainfall early in the water year saw Copeton dam storage increase from a starting point of 53% to a leak of 82% with end of year capacity of 60%, 
The full statement is available here for the Gwydir Valley and here for the opening allocations for NSW regulated sources

The NSWIC have released their June newsletter. Included is conversation on;

  1. IPART Pricing determination released
  2. Basin Plan: What We Heard report
  3. Non-urban metering update 
  4. NSW Auditor-General’s performance audit into water


The newsletter is available at the following link

Water supply works approved for Floodplain Harvesting operate as a system, each work contributes to harvesting the water, unless they are clearly excluded.
Under FPH metering rules:
• Only storages and points of intake need meters
• Other works (such as channels and lift pumps) do not need meters
• These other works should be classified as constructed, as they as they are involved in taking floodplain harvesting.
This is different from non-urban metering rules, where most works that take water need a meter unless exempt. If an approval holder has a work that is on a Floodplain Harvesting Water Supply Works approval which is also on another non-floodplain harvesting approval – they may have different classifications because of the different rules.
The DCCEEW factsheet is available in the link

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