A major review of water sharing plans covering the rivers supplying drinking water to the South Coast, the Illawarra, Southern Highlands and Sydney has found the plans are "flawed" as it is not known how much water removal would be sustainable given "the criticality of the water supply for maintaining this demographic and economic growth."
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The review of the Greater Metropolitan Water Sharing Plan was completed by the NSW Natural Resources Commission (NRC) and was the first since it came into effect in 2011.
The report warned water extraction limits in the plan are not based on sound evidence of sustainability, difficult to measure and enforce and therefore cannot be managed and that environmental flow rules are not based on sound evidence of ecosystem requirements.
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It was published last week along with a half page response from NSW Water Minister Melinda Pavey dated 26 March 2021.
Minister Pavey made no comment or commitments in regards to the 19 detailed recommendations in the review report, but extended the existing plan for two years as advised by the report.
The report specifically recommends the Government conduct upgrades to allow environmental flow releases from Warragamba Dam to deliver environmental outcomes downstream of the dam in the Hawkesbury Nepean Catchment and review water transfer and environmental release rules for the Shoalhaven River and the Tallowa Dam.
Independent NSW MP Justin Field said, "the last decade has shown that water management in NSW and Greater Sydney is failing, yet the Government still doesn't appear to be taking seriously the warnings of their own independent natural resource management experts.
"A half page response to a detailed and complex report and recommendations, months after the fact, is simply not good enough.
"This report shows that the water management failures of this Government are now not just an environmental and water supply risk but now also present a risk to future economic growth.
"The Government needs to explain how these recommendations by the Natural Resources Commission are going to be actioned over the next two years to ensure the region is best placed to respond to future droughts and water supply challenges but also to protect the environment.
"We're increasingly seeing the National Party trying to sideline advice coming from the NRC, especially in regards to water. These water sharing plan reviews are not just advice to take or leave, they are a requirement of the water laws in NSW to ensure our rules are fit for purpose. If the Nationals won't take this seriously, Premier Berejiklian should step in and take the water portfolio off the Nationals.
"The Government must stop sticking its head in the sand and take seriously the challenges of water management and sharing in NSW, particularly in the face of a changing climate as we see overall reductions in inflows into the state's water catchments and more extreme droughts and flood events."
