To reduce the risk of over allocation, the NSW Government has announced changes to take a more measured and sustainable approach to the licensing of floodplain harvesting.

The NSW Government is calling for photos, drone footage and historical data from last year’s record flooding and previous years to underpin vital floodplain management plans being updated in the Murray, Murrumbidgee, Billabong Creek and Lachlan

The NSW Government is rolling out site visits across the Gwydir and Barwon-Darling valleys to start bringing unapproved flood works into compliance and return water to floodplains, wetlands, rivers and creeks.

The state’s swollen floodplains are alive with aquatic critters and new research is shining a spotlight on what kinds of fish, frogs, and other creatures call them home.

The Bureau of Meteorology advises that widespread rainfall, including possible heavy localised falls, is forecast across much of inland northern NSW river valleys over the next 12-18 hours.

There are reports of heavy rain in the Gwydir region which could lead to overland flows.

An independent panel commissioned to assess the management of the 2020 Northern Basin first flush event has released its final report, Secretary for the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment Jim Betts has announced.

The first stage of the Independent Panel Assessment of the Management of the 2020 Northern Basin First Flush Event has been completed and a draft report is now available, Secretary of the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment Jim Betts

An independent panel will begin an assessment of the management of the first flush event in the Northern Basin earlier this year, the result of the first significant rainfall event in the region since 2016.

Reinstatement of restrictions to floodplain harvesting