Our leadership team

The Office of the Chief Executive Officer links the public with the water sector through engagement, including water enquiries, engaging across the water sector and between department, government and ministerial offices to deliver ministerial, executive, corporate and stakeholder support.

The Strategy Division sets the long-term strategic direction for water management, leads policy development and water planning, delivers strategic projects and fulfils statutory obligations under the Water management Act and intergovernmental obligations for Murray-Darling Basin matters. The Division is responsible for the NSW Water Strategy, twelve Regional and two Metropolitan water strategies (Greater Sydney and Lower Hunter) addressing key issues such as climate variability and change, Aboriginal rights and access to water, economic development, and protecting and enhancing the environment.

Water Planning is responsible for extending, amending, replacing and continuously improving water sharing plans, floodplain management plans (inland) and water resource plans for groundwater and surface water across NSW. It reviews about 50 statutory water plans every ten years, provides input into statutory audits and reviews for each plan which occur every five years and ten years (respectively).

The Water Operations Division is key to ensuring NSW has sustainable, secure and healthy water resources and services by collaborating and working in partnership with stakeholders across the sector, delivering short term operational activities for long term impact.

The Knowledge Division delivers trusted knowledge and information through data, science, analytics and modelling. The Division includes surface water, groundwater, assessments, modelling and analytics teams. We work closely with research, institutional and water sector collaborators to ensure our information products, public tools, maps and portals meet the needs of our clients and the people of NSW.

The Performance Division works to lift the performance of the Water Group through program and project management, finance and economic support, and delivers key reform initiatives. The Division leads projects to embed major long-term reforms of water management in NSW. These include reducing barriers to manage risks effectively in town water utilities in regional NSW, improving customer service outcomes across water licensing and approvals, and improving the transparency of roles and responsibilities of organisations that manage water in NSW. The Division values strengthening existing partnerships, analysing current systems and processes, and embedding innovative improvements to customer service outcomes for the people of NSW.

Water Infrastructure NSW (WINSW) is responsible for leading the development and delivery of key government water infrastructure projects and programs across the state. WINSW delivers world-class, major water infrastructure projects that contribute to the safety, security and sustainability of our valued water resources for our communities and the environment.
WINSW collaborates across the water sector, with industry partners, Aboriginal communities and stakeholders, to deliver innovative infrastructure and water management solutions, with a focus on outcomes that support the health, well-being and prosperity of our customers and communities as well as the natural environment.

The Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) is the independent regulator responsible for the enforcement of water laws in NSW. Established under the NSW Natural Resources Access Regulator Act 2017, NRAR actively monitors compliance and provides education for water users across the state. Visit NRAR's website for more information.