Water Sharing Plan for the Lower North Coast Unregulated and Alluvial Water Sources Background document for amended plan 2016 Published by the NSW Department of Primary Industries, Water Water Sharing Plan for the Lower North Coast Unregulated and Alluvial Water Sources - Background document for amended plan 2016 First published in November 2016 Incorporates amendments to the plan following inclusion of the Karuah River Water Source More information This report may be cited as: Betterridge L., Rabbidge T., (2016) Water Sharing Plan for the Lower North Coast Unregulated and Alluvial Water Sources: Background document for amended plan 2016, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Sydney www.dpi.nsw.gov.au Acknowledgments Cover image: Little Manning River in Woko National Park, John Spencer/ OEH © 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 (November 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. WSP for Lower North Coast unregulated and alluvial water sources: Background document 2016 Contents Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 An amended plan for the unregulated Lower North Coast catchments .......................... 2 Purpose of the Plan .............................................................................................................. 3 Why are water sharing plans (WSPs) being prepared? .................................................. 3 Benefits for water users .................................................................................................. 3 Environmental considerations ......................................................................................... 4 Unregulated streams ....................................................................................................... 4 Scope of the Plan ............................................................................................................ 5 Water Management Units ............................................................................................... 5 Objectives of the Plan ..................................................................................................... 9 Description of the Plan area .............................................................................................. 10 Climate .......................................................................................................................... 11 Land use history ............................................................................................................ 11 High environmental value areas ................................................................................... 11 Estuaries ....................................................................................................................... 14 Industry and water use .................................................................................................. 15 Policy framework ................................................................................................................ 17 The Water Management Act 2000 ................................................................................ 17 Access Licence Dealing Principles ............................................................................... 17 National Water Initiative ................................................................................................ 18 Natural Resource Commission targets ......................................................................... 18 Catchment Action Plans ................................................................................................ 18 NSW water planning policies and considerations ......................................................... 19 Role of the panels ......................................................................................................... 23 Consultation to inform rule development ...................................................................... 24 Water sharing rules for unregulated water sources ....................................................... 26 Water source classification ........................................................................................... 26 Planned environmental water ....................................................................................... 27 Requirements for water ................................................................................................. 27 Access rules for unregulated water sources ................................................................. 28 Dealings (trading) rules in unregulated water sources .................................................. 29 Exceptions to the generic rule approach ....................................................................... 30 Refining the access rules for the Karuah River Water Source ...................................... 30 Managing extractions .................................................................................................... 32 i | NSW Department of Primary Industries, Water, November 2016 WSP for Lower North Coast unregulated and alluvial water sources: Background document 2016 Granting new access licences ...................................................................................... 34 Water sharing rules for alluvial groundwater sources ................................................... 36 Surface water – groundwater interactions .................................................................... 36 Alluvial aquifers ............................................................................................................. 36 Groundwater dependent ecosystems ........................................................................... 38 Amendment provisions ................................................................................................. 39 Monitoring of plan performance .................................................................................... 39 Plan review ................................................................................................................... 42 Glossary .............................................................................................................................. 43 Appendices ......................................................................................................................... 45 Appendix 1: Hunter Regional Panel ................................................................................ 1 Appendix 2: Reference material used by the Hunter Regional Panel ............................. 3 Appendix 3: Refined classifications based on Regional Panel knowledge ..................... 4 Appendix 4: Summary of final classifications recommended by Regional Panel ............ 6 Appendix 5: Changes to water sharing rules based on Regional Panel knowledge ............................................................................................................. 7 Appendix 6: Changes to water sharing rules based on targeted consultation ................ 9 Appendix 7: Changes to water sharing rules based on public exhibition ...................... 10 Appendix 8: Map of the plan area ................................................................................. 13 Appendix 9: Contribution to the river flow objectives .................................................... 14 Appendix 10: Identified threatened species .................................................................. 16 ii | NSW Department of Primary Industries, Water, November 2016 WSP for Lower North Coast unregulated and alluvial water sources: Background document 2016 Tables Table 1: Water sources with a high level of economic dependence ...................................... 4 Table 2: Water management units in the amended Lower North Coast water sharing plan ...................................................................................................................... 7 Table 3: Water sources with a high instream value (based on initial assessment) .............. 12 Table 4: Inflow sensitivities for the Lower North Coast catchments ..................................... 15 Table 5: Key groups consulted in Lower North Coast targeted consultation ........................ 25 Table 6: Indicative access rules for rivers and creeks under the macro approach .............. 29 Table 7: Connectivity between aquifer types and surface water .......................................... 37 Table 8: Water sources where adaptive management applies ............................................ 40 iii | NSW Department of Primary Industries, Water, November 2016 WSP for Lower North Coast unregulated and alluvial water sources: Background document 2016 Introduction Water sharing plans are being progressively developed for rivers and groundwater systems across the State following the introduction