The plan
The Lower Hunter Water Security Plan is part of a suite of long-term strategies the NSW Government is developing to maintain the resilience of the state’s water resources over the coming decades.
NSW Water Strategy High level direction and objectives for the water sector Alignment of 12 regional water strategies and two metropolitan strategies in NSW | ||
| Greater Hunter Regional Water Strategy Infrastructure and policy based water security solutions for the Greater Hunter Region | Lower Hunter Water Security Plan Program of water supply and demand actions focused on water security for the Hunter Water area of operations | |
The Lower Hunter Water Security Plan is a whole of government approach to ensure the region has resilient, secure and sustainable water supply, now and for future generations. This new long-term plan enables us to adapt to future uncertainties, such as population growth and climate variability.
The Lower Hunter Water Security Plan includes new sources of water and ways to reduce the water we currently use. It includes a range of supply and demand measures that will better prepare us for drought and to meet the needs of homes, businesses and industry in the future.
The Lower Hunter Water Security Plan reflects community values and priorities while being both robust and adaptable in the long term. It is designed to adapt to the challenges of population and business growth, climate change and technological advancement over the next 40 years.
- what we know about supplying water to a growing community and the potential impacts of climate change
- what we learned from the severe drought conditions that impacted both NSW and the Lower Hunter community over the last five years
- the preferred program of actions and how they will be implemented.
Read the plan
A 40-year plan to provide a sustainable and resilient water supply for the Lower Hunter by improving resilience to drought and planning ahead to meet the needs of a growing community.
Download the Lower Hunter Water Security Plan (PDF, 20133.89 KB)
You can find more information about the plan on Hunter Water's website.
Frequently asked questions
How does the Plan relate to the NSW Water Strategy?
The Lower Hunter Water Security Plan is part of a suite of long-term strategies the NSW Government is developing to maintain the resilience of the state’s water resources over the coming decades. The NSW Water Strategy provides the ‘top down’, high level direction and objectives for the water sector, while the Lower Hunter Water Security Plan outlines a program of water supply and demand actions focused on water security for the Hunter Water area of operations.
How is this different from the Greater Hunter Regional Water Strategy?
The Greater Hunter Regional Water Strategy is broad, outlining policy, planning and infrastructure options to improve water security across the Greater Hunter area. The strategy sets out recommendations to inform future conversations and decisions about the direction of water management in the Greater Hunter Region. The Lower Hunter Water Security Plan builds on this by focussing on the areas serviced by Hunter Water (a portion in the Greater Hunter Region). The plan also sets detailed actions to manage supply and demand in the region, and to respond to drought.
An aligned regional approach to water planning improves overall resilience. It allows us to take advantage of variable patterns in rainfall and climate and to better respond to water supply or water quality risks – with improved outcomes for all regions.
How does the Lower Hunter Water Security Plan align with water planning work in the Central Coast and the Upper Hunter?
The Lower Hunter Water Security Plan has considered the important work of the Greater Hunter Regional Water Strategy and has built upon this to evaluate opportunities to link the Upper Hunter and the Lower Hunter water supply systems.
The NSW Government, Hunter Water and Central Coast Council have worked closely to analyse and model infrastructure and operational options that make best use of available water across the Hunter and the Central Coast, including the existing inter-regional transfer pipeline. Infrastructure proposed in both the Lower Hunter Water Security Plan and the Central Coast Water Security Plan has been considered with the best overall outcomes for the broader region in mind.
What is the role of Hunter Water and the department?
Across NSW the government is undertaking long-term planning to secure water for our future in the face of a growing population, changing industry and community needs and a more variable and changing climate. In the Lower Hunter, Hunter Water and the department have worked together on the Lower Hunter Water Security Plan. Hunter Water led the technical investigations and analysis and community engagement while the department ensured alignment of the plan with other regional plans. Hunter Water have the primary role in carrying out the key actions in the plan and the department will lead the process to monitor and evaluate how the overall plan is implemented.
How do I learn more about the Lostock Dam to Glennies Creek Dam pipeline project?
Work on this project is being led by Water Infrastructure NSW. More information is available from the project webpage.
How do I learn more about the details of the development of the options in the Lower Hunter Water Security Plan?
Hunter Water have developed several fact sheets about the options in the plan and how the analysis was undertaken. These are available on Hunter Water's website.
Contact us
For more information please contact nsw.waterstrategy@dpie.nsw.gov.au.