Water Sharing Plan for the Tuross River Unregulated and Alluvial Water Sources Background document Published by the Department of Primary Industries, a Division of NSW Department of Industry, Skills and Regional Development. Water Sharing Plan for the Tuross River Unregulated and Alluvial Water Sources: Background document First published July 2016 More information Rural Water Planning www.dpi.nsw.gov.au Acknowledgments Cover photo: Upper Tuross River courtesy of former Southern Rivers CMA © State of New South Wales through the Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services, 2016. You may copy, distribute and otherwise freely deal with this publication for any purpose, provided that you attribute the NSW Department of Primary Industries as the owner. Disclaimer: The information contained in this publication is based on knowledge and understanding at the time of writing (July 2016). However, because of advances in knowledge, users are reminded of the need to ensure that information upon which they rely is up to date and to check currency of the information with the appropriate officer of the Department of Primary Industries or the user’s independent adviser. Water Sharing Plan for the Tuross River Unregulated and Alluvial Water Sources: Background document Contents Introduction ..........................................................................................................................6 Why are water sharing plans being prepared? ................................................................... 7 A water sharing plan for the Tuross River .......................................................................... 9 Replacement plan for Wandella Creek ............................................................................... 9 Objectives of the plan ........................................................................................................ 9 Scope of the plan ..............................................................................................................10 Policy and planning framework ......................................................................................... 11 The Water Management Act 2000 ....................................................................................11 Access Licence Dealing Principles ....................................................................................11 National Water Initiative ....................................................................................................12 Natural Resource Commission targets ..............................................................................12 Catchment Action Plans ....................................................................................................12 Water planning policies and considerations ......................................................................13 Description of the plan area .............................................................................................. 16 Catchment description ......................................................................................................16 Water management structures ..........................................................................................16 Aboriginal history ..............................................................................................................16 Early European settlement and land use...........................................................................17 Current land use ...............................................................................................................18 Climate .............................................................................................................................19 Ecological values ..............................................................................................................20 Groundwater .....................................................................................................................22 River flows ........................................................................................................................22 Entitlement and water use ................................................................................................23 The process of developing the water sharing plan .......................................................... 26 State Interagency Panel ....................................................................................................26 South Coast Working Group .............................................................................................26 Interagency Regional Panel ..............................................................................................27 Water source classification method ...................................................................................27 Refining the indicative rules ..............................................................................................28 Consultation ......................................................................................................................28 Public exhibition ................................................................................................................29 Water sharing rules ............................................................................................................ 31 Planned environmental water ............................................................................................31 Requirements for water .....................................................................................................31 3 | DPI Water, July 2016 Water Sharing Plan for the Tuross River Unregulated and Alluvial Water Sources: Background document Managing extractions ........................................................................................................32 Granting new access licences ...........................................................................................32 Water allocation accounts .................................................................................................34 Flow classes and daily access rules .................................................................................35 Water supply works approvals ..........................................................................................39 Dealing rules .....................................................................................................................40 Adaptive management ....................................................................................................... 42 Amendment provisions .....................................................................................................42 Monitoring, evaluation and reporting .................................................................................43 Glossary .............................................................................................................................. 45 References .......................................................................................................................... 47 Appendix 1 .......................................................................................................................... 49 Water sharing plan map ....................................................................................................49 Appendix 2 .......................................................................................................................... 50 Water management units established by the Tuross River water sharing plan ..................50 Appendix 3 .......................................................................................................................... 51 Identified threatened species ............................................................................................51 Appendix 4 .......................................................................................................................... 55 Interagency Reference Panel and support staff ................................................................55 Appendix 5 .......................................................................................................................... 56 Reference information used by Interagency Reference Panel ...........................................56 Appendix 6 .......................................................................................................................... 57 Final classification summary .............................................................................................57 Appendix 7 .......................................................................................................................... 59 Summary of submissions received on the draft plan .........................................................59 4 | DPI Water, July 2016 Water Sharing Plan for the Tuross River Unregulated and Alluvial Water Sources: Background document List of Tables Table 1 Inflow sensitivities for the estuaries within the plan area ....................................................... 21 Table 2: Current river gauges in the Tuross catchment ...................................................................... 22 Table 3: Total entitlement* and number of licences for each water source at plan commencement............................................................................................................... 24 Table 4: Summary