NSW Great Artesian Basin Shallow Water Resource Plan

What area does the plan cover?

The NSW Great Artesian Basin Shallow Water Resource Plan area covers the uppermost groundwater systems that overlie or are partly within the confining beds of the Great Artesian Basin. It includes all groundwater contained within the unconsolidated sediments regardless of depth and all other geological formations to a maximum depth of 60 m below the surface of the ground.

The NSW Great Artesian Basin Shallow (GW13) is composed of three sustainable diversion limit resource units (SDL resource units):

• NSW Great Artesian Basin Surat Shallow (GS34)
• NSW Great Artesian Basin Warrego Shallow (GS35)
• NSW Great Artesian Basin Central Shallow (GS36)

Commonwealth accreditation process

The NSW Government first submitted the NSW Great Artesian Basin Shallow Water Resource Plan to the Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) in April 2020 and resubmitted it with changes in July 2022. The plan is now operational, following its accreditation by the MDBA in December 2022.

Changes made to the draft plan based on feedback from public consultation and the MDBA’s preliminary advice are provided in the summary of changes fact sheet PDF, 230.8 KB.

• You can read the final accredited plan on the MDBA website.

Public exhibition

Public exhibition of the NSW GAB Shallow Water Resource Plan is now closed. Public information sessions were held at Bourke and Lightning Ridge in August 2019. All submissions have been reviewed by the department.

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