1.1.5.4 Water sharing plans

To maintain and protect the health of rivers and groundwater systems, the NSW government established water sharing plans (WSPs) for the state’s unregulated and regulated rivers under the NSW Water Management Act 2000. The Act requires that water be allocated for the fundamental health of a water source and its dependent ecosystems, such as wetlands, floodplains and estuaries, as a first priority. These WSPs are reviewed every ten years.

Table 13 Summary of the applicable water sharing plans that cover surface water in the Hunter subregion

Water manage-ment area	Water sharing plan	Planned area	Basic information	Commenced and/or suspended and/or recommended
Hunter	The Water Sharing Plan for the Hunter Unregulated and Alluvial Water Sources 2009 (DPI, 2009)	The Hunter unregulated rivers and creeks	Long-term average annual extraction limits for different rivers. Not pumping when no visible flow at the pumping site. Three flow classes: (i) very low flow class, (ii) B class (for low flow) and (iii) C class (for the moderate to high range of flows).	Commenced on 1/8/2009 (Current version for 1/1/2014 to date)
Hunter	The Water Sharing Plan for the Hunter Regulated River Water Source 2003 (DIPNR, 2004a)	The Hunter regulated rivers	Long-term average annual extraction limit (217,000 ML/year) Planned environmental water. Adaptive environmental water Basic landholder right Domestic and stock rights (2592 ML/year in zone 1; 2375 ML/year in zone 2; 548 ML/year in zone 3).	Commenced on 1/7/2004 Suspended on 29/12/2006 Recommended on 16/9/2011 (Current version for 17/9/2014 to date)
Hunter	The Water Sharing Plan for the Wybong Creek Water Source 2003 (DIPNR, 2003a)	The Wybong Creek	Five flow classes: (i) very low flow class (<1 ML/day), (ii) B class (1–7 ML/day), (iii) C class (7–16 ML/day), (iv) D class (16–100 ML/day) and (v) E class (>100 ML/day)	Commenced on 1/7/2004 Suspended on 18/8/2006 (Current version for 1/1/2014 to date)
Central Coast	The Water Sharing Plan for the Jilliby Jilliby Creek Water Source 2003 (DIPNR, 2004b)	The Jilliby Jilliby Creek	Four flow classes: (i) very low flow class (<0.5 ML/day in year 1; <0.75 ML/day in year 2; 1 ML/day from year 3), (ii) B class (0.5–3.3 ML/day in year 1; 0.75–3.3 ML/day in year 2; 1.0–3.3 ML/day from year 3), (iii) C class (3.3–8.0 ML/day) and (iv) D class (>8.0 ML/day)	Commenced on 1/7/2004 (Current version for 1/1/2014 to date)
Central Coast	The Water Sharing Plan for the Ourimbah Creek Water Source 2003 (DIPNR, 2003b)	The Ourimbah Creek	Six flow classes: (i) very low flow class (<4 ML/day), (ii) A class (4–7 ML/day), (iii) B class (7–25 ML/day), (iv) C class (25–60 ML/day), (v) D class (60– 160 ML/day) and (vi) E class (>160 ML/day)	Commenced on 1/7/2004 Suspended on 22/12/2006 Recommenced on 4/9/2010 (Current version for 1/1/2014 to date)
Lower North Coast	The Water Sharing Plan for the Karuah River Water Source 2003 (DIPNR, 2004c)	The Karuah River	Four flow classes: (i) very low flow class (<5 ML/day), (ii) A class (5–18 ML/day), (iii) B class (18–87 ML/day) and (iv) C class (>87 ML/day)	Commenced on 1/7/2004 (Current version for 1/1/2014 to date)
Namoi	The Water Sharing Plan for the Phillips Creek, Mooki River, Quirindi Creek and Warrah Creek Water Sources 2003 (DIPNR, 2004d)	The Quirindi Creek	Three flow classes: (i) very low flow class (<2 ML/day), (ii) C class (2–100 ML/day) and (iii) C class (>100 ML/day)	Commenced on 1/7/2004 (Current version for 1/1/2014 to date)

Table 13 summarises the major WSPs for surface water in the Hunter subregion. The major WSPs for the Hunter River include the WSP for the Hunter Regulated River Water Source and the WSP for the Hunter Unregulated and Alluvial Water Sources. Rules under the Water Sharing Plan for the Hunter Unregulated and Alluvial Water Sources 2009 include protecting the environment, extractions, managing licence holders' water accounts, and water trading in the plan area; detailed information can be obtained from the NSW Office of Water in the Department of Primary Industries (DPI, 2009). The Hunter Regulated Rivers Water Source includes from the upstream limit of Glenbawn Dam water storage downstream to the estuary of the Hunter River, and from the upstream limit of Glennies Creek Dam water storage downstream to the junction with the Hunter River (Figure 38). The Hunter Regulated River Water Source is further divided into three management zones. As one of the 20 first-stage implemented WSPs, the WSP for the Hunter Regulated River Water Source was gazetted and commenced on 1 July 2004 and expired in June 2014, and the extension of the plan was approved by the Minister to run through until 1 July 2015. Details for the Hunter Regulated River Water Source can be found in DIPNR (2004a).

The streams within Macquarie Tuggerah basin are managed under the WSPs for the Central Coast area which commenced on 1 August 2009 and are due for extension in July 2020, except for Ourimbah Creek and Jilliby Jilliby Creek (their details shown in Table 12). The Ourimbah Creek and Jilliby Jilliby Creek WSPs was due in 2014, a merger with this plan is proposed which would result in a single WSP covering the unregulated water sources in the basin.

The lower Karuah and upper Namoi river basins are managed under WSPs within the Lower North Coast and Namoi water management areas, respectively (Table 13). More details on all WSPs within the Hunter subregion can be obtained from the NSW Office of Water website (NSW Office of Water, 2014).

Last updated:

18 January 2019

Product Finalisation date

Numbered headings

ASSESSMENT

PRODUCT DATA