Gwydir Surface Water Resource Plan

Commonwealth accreditation

All NSW Water Resource Plans (WRPs) were submitted in 2020 to the Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) to assess the plan against accreditation requirements of the Basin Plan 2012. Where plans have been submitted (and not withdrawn), a copy of the submitted Plan and the schedules and appendices is available on the MDBA website. The MDBA is progressing its assessment of NSW WRPs and notifying NSW on the outcome of this assessment. Where further work is required to address accreditation requirements, NSW WRPs are being withdrawn and will be resubmitted. At the time of withdrawal, the submitted documents are removed from the MDBA website. Refer to the Water Resource Plans–status: Water in New South Wales page for the status of each plan.

Changes made to the draft plan based on feedback from public consultation and the MDBA’s preliminary advice is provided in the summary of changes (PDF, 300.18 KB) fact sheet.

What areas does the plan cover?

The Gwydir Surface Water Resource Plan covers all the surface water resources of the Gwydir River Valley. It includes the regulated river system; unregulated rivers flowing into the regulated river system; unregulated effluent rivers flowing out of the regulated river system on the plains; and water captured through farm dams and floodplain harvesting.

The Gwydir Regulated River Water Source between the banks of all rivers, from Copeton Dam water storage downstream to the junction of the Gwydir River and its effluent rivers with the Barwon River that have been declared by the Minister to be a regulated river. The Gwydir Unregulated Rivers Water Sources within the Gwydir Water Management Area.

Public exhibition

The draft Water Resource Plan, and proposed changes to the existing Water Sharing Plans, were on public exhibition from 18 October 2018 to 29 November 2018. All submissions received during this period have been reviewed by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment.

The following respondents agreed to have their submissions published on this website. Note that not all respondents elected to have their submissions published.

The public exhibition period provided valuable feedback that helped develop and inform proposed changes to the Water Sharing Plan and Water Resource Plan. Public information sessions were held in Bingara and Moree in October and November in 2018.

Water sharing plans

The progress of changes to the water sharing plans as part of the water resource plan development can be found below.