Border Rivers Regional Water Strategy engagement

Public consultation 1

The first draft Border Rivers Regional Water Strategy, which considers urban water needs, Aboriginal rights and access, reliable water supply and the environment, was on public exhibition from 25 October – 13 December 2020.

The draft strategy was a set of 3 documents:

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

160 stakeholders participated in the engagement program and 42 formal submissions were received. Key themes that emerged during this consultation include using the new climate data, environmental health and connectivity, Aboriginal water rights and connection to Country, entitlement reliability and risk management, new and existing water infrastructure, strategic land use and water planning, and inter-jurisdictional water management.

Public consultation 2

After incorporating the feedback from the community and doing further analysis, a second draft Border Rivers Regional Water Strategy was on a second public exhibition from Wednesday, 1 June, until Wednesday, 29 June 2022.

The second draft was a set of two documents:

What we heard

In the second round of public exhibition of the draft Border Rivers Regional Water Strategy, 96 stakeholders participated, and we received 17 formal submissions. The department received a range of general feedback on the draft strategy and specific responses to the proposed priority areas and actions, with two additional themes raised relating to improving connectivity and strategy implementation and oversight.