The Murray Darling Basin Authority has recently published the NSW 2020 reports on environmental outcomes at the asset scale (Matter 8) and progress towards water quality targets (Matter 12). The reports will guide NSW efforts to identify and prioritise improvements to ecological and water quality monitoring; non-water actions that support greater benefits from watering; and enhancing our understanding of how flows support plants and animals in NSW.

Under the Murray Darling Basin Plan, the Basin States are required to prepare five-yearly reports on various environmental and water outcomes. The first reports on environmental outcomes at the asset scale (Matter 8) and progress towards water quality targets (Matter 12) were prepared in 2020. The NSW 2020 Matter 8 and 12 reports describe the condition of environmental assets and water quality in the NSW portion of the Murray–Darling Basin from 2014 to 2019. They set a baseline against which future progress and outcomes related to the Basin Plan can be assessed.

The reporting period was dominated by one of the worst droughts on record in NSW and many of the environmental and water quality outcomes reflect that.

• Monitoring of native vegetation, waterbirds and native fish showed that there has been little to no decline in the number of species being found. But the numbers of individuals, spatial extent or density of coverage continued a pattern of decline that has been observed over the past 30-40 years.
• Five internationally important wetlands in NSW received environmental water over the reporting period and large waterbird breeding events were recorded in 2016–17.
• During wetter years, water quality targets were also generally met or exceeded.

The reports will guide NSW efforts to identify and prioritise improvements to ecological and water quality monitoring; delivery of native fish recovery strategies; conservation of rare and threatened species; non-water actions that support greater benefits from watering; and enhancing our understanding of how species react to flows.

The NSW 2020 Matter 8 report was prepared through collaboration between the Department (formerly the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment), the Department’s Environment, Energy and Science group and the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Fisheries.

The NSW 2020 Matter 12 report has been prepared by the Water Quality and Science Support team in the Department.