Lachlan Regional Water Strategy engagement

Public consultation in 2020

Community consultation on a long list of options, which considered water supply, reliability and security in flood and drought, took place from 25 September – 13 December 2020.

A set of 3 documents were released:

A comprehensive engagement and consultation program accompanied the release of the draft strategy. This included:

face-to-face meetings
online webinars
formal submissions.

What we heard

Over 60 stakeholders participated in the engagement program and 66 formal submissions were received. Key themes that emerged during this consultation include climate and modelling, new and existing water infrastructure, town water security and water-related amenities, Aboriginal water rights and connection to Country, entitlement reliability and risk management, environmental health and connectivity, and groundwater.

Submissions

Set out below are the collected community and stakeholder submissions for the region along with cultural and general submissions.

Submissions - Consultation 1

Public consultation in 2022

Community consultation on shortlisted actions to address regional challenges, took place from Wednesday 5 October – Friday 18 November 2022.

A set of two documents were released:

Due to the extensive and ongoing flooding situation impacting communities across the Lachlan region at the time, a decision was made, in consultation with key stakeholders, to re-exhibit the draft Lachlan Regional Water Strategy in 2023 (see September 2023 draft below).

What we heard

Seventeen formal submissions were received and reviewed. A summary of feedback received has been published below.

Public consultation 2: Interim what we heard report (PDF. 903KB)

Submissions - Consultation 2

Public consultation in 2023

The re-exhibition took place from Friday 22 September – Sunday 12 November 2023, with the department seeking feedback from the community on the consultation paper on shortlisted actions to address regional challenges for the draft Lachlan Regional Water Strategy.

A set of two documents were released:

Additional information

What we heard

The department received 25 formal submissions and over 80 people participated in engagement sessions. In addition, six sets of comments were received via Social Pinpoint, the department’s Community Engagement Platform.

Feedback ranged from general commentary about water-related issues, such as water security, flood mitigation, and supporting catchment and river health, to specific feedback about the proposed shortlisted actions.

Permission was given to publish the submissions listed below. The list does not include the comments received via Social Pinpoint.

Public consultation 3: What we heard report (PDF. 7,876KB))

Submissions - Consultation 3

Next steps

The department is currently considering submissions from the 2022 and 2023 consultation periods. The final Lachlan Regional Water Strategy and associated implementation plan will be released in early 2024.