For the first time, ten inland regional communities will benefit from a new $1.5 million NSW Government funding program aimed at boosting drinking water quality.

The Parkes community is well on its way to securing future-proof and drought-resilient water services for decades to come as construction wraps up on the first stage of a major water infrastructure overhaul.

Mungindi has switched on a new permanent $325,000 water cooling tower to ensure the town’s 600 residents will continue to have safe and high-quality drinking water during weather extremes.

Water Users along the NSW Coast and in the Southern Inland will be given extra time to install non-urban metering equipment in the wake of unrelenting rainfall and widespread flooding.

A new 300 megalitre off-stream storage dam at Walcha will provide greater water security and reliability for residents and businesses and to help drought-proof the town’s water supply.

The opening water allocations for NSW licenced water users reflect the significant turnaround from drought conditions to an abundance of water across the state.

The Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) has asked the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to install metering equipment at Boera Dam in Toorale National Park to increase transparency in water measurement.

On Monday 14 September the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment was alerted to an error on its Water Usage Dashboard.

Today’s water allocations announced by the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment for licensed water users reflect some improvement in resource availability, particularly for towns and high priority entitlements.

Water compliance is increasing in NSW, thanks to the actions of the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) who this week marked its second anniversary, and tripled prosecution for water theft and lack of compliance earlier this month.

Two landholders from the Walgett area will face 14 charges in the Land and Environment Court for breaches of water laws in 2016 and 2017.

The NSW Government has taken the next major step in implementing its high-tech water metering telemetry system, to ensure our most precious resource continues to be properly monitored.