Questions and answers

Water Infrastructure NSW will work closely with local communities and stakeholders on the design, development and delivery phase of any projects. The engagement builds on the years of feedback we have received through various other water programs.

Water Infrastructure NSW welcomes additional ideas on initiatives that would help achieve better cultural, social economic and environmental outcomes to improve the Darling-Baaka river system. Please email better.baaka@dpie.nsw.gov.au with any suggestions.

Future engagement and partnering opportunities will be listed on the Better Baaka webpage, as well as our stakeholder engagement page.

Water Infrastructure NSW will work closely with the community on the proposed initiatives to ensure they deliver a Better Baaka. We want the initiatives to align with the community’s expectations and values and to understand any potential impacts.

We are committed to delivering projects that have broad community support.

Yes. The webinars were promoted on the Better Baaka program webpage, through direct e-mails to more than 4000 subscribers, including First Nations peak bodies, and via the department’s Water News e-newsletter. The webinars were also announced at the program launch attended by First Nations representatives.

Water Infrastructure NSW has a dedicated First Nations engagement team, including employees based in and around Broken Hill. We have a keen focus on Aboriginal engagement as part of the Better Baaka program.

The Water Infrastructure NSW First Nations engagement team can be contacted at winsw.engagement@dpie.nsw.gov.au

We look forward to working with all our First Nations communities and are committed to building trusted relationships to help inform the design of program initiatives.

The main changes undertaken in the Barwon-Darling Water Sharing Plan in mid-2020 were:

• introducing active management
• including resumption of flow rules
• introducing individual daily extraction components
• changing A-class commence and cease to pump triggers.

More information:

• Barwon-Darling rule summary sheet (PDF, 161.48 KB)
• Active management rules (PDF, 687.52 KB)
• Individual daily extraction components (PDF, 187.59 KB)
• Resumption of flow rules (PDF, 340.08 KB)

The proposed initiatives forming the Better Baaka program have the potential to support connectivity.

For instance:

• strategic purchases of licences may result in additional water in the river that can flow downstream
• modifying weirs and removing weirs may help flows of water pass more easily down the river
• improving fish passage would open long stretches of the river to fish.

The Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) has conducted analysis on the contribution of different tributaries and their inflows into the Barwon-Darling, taking into account pre-development and development stages.

Inflows from Queensland will need to be considered in the broader connectivity framework. Work has already commenced on this. Improving connectivity will require to a multi-jurisdictional approach involving Queensland and the Murray Darling Basin Authority.

If the package of 36 notified projects delivers their anticipated water savings, there will be 605 GL of additional water available for communities through the adjustment mechanism and the package of supply projects. The Basin states are working together to understand how any difference between what projects were expected to be delivered in 2017 and what is in place in 2024 will be addressed. The Australian Government’s Water Minister has repeatedly stated no further water buybacks will be pursued to achieve Murray Darling Basin Plan targets.

Part of the Better Baaka Program has been built off the work carried out as part of the Western Weirs Program’s Strategic Business Case, which has considered a broad range of options including off-stream storages as well as other non-infrastructure options.

As part of the operational rule changes for the Menindee Lakes project, it was anticipated once we could clearly identify additional environmental water inflows into the Lakes, we could establish an account allowing for this additional water to be used for local or more far-reaching environmental outcomes. This will require a good understanding of environmental water demands, an agreed measurement of inflows to design the account rules and engagement with other jurisdictions to alter the operational arrangements. Current pre-requisite policy measures allow environmental flows from the Lakes to the River Murray to be accounted for whilst the Lakes are in Murray Darling Basin Authority control.

The Australian Government’s purchase of 25,498 megalitres (ML) of Toorale water entitlements, as transferred to the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, comprised:

• 17,826 ML in the Warrego River
• 7,672 ML in the Darling River.

The available amount of water that can be used under licence varies from year-to-year according to rainfall, inflows and catchment conditions.

More information

The purchase of Toorale included 25,000ML of water entitlements transferred to the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office.

The NSW Government’s long held position is that only selective or strategic water purchases with a willing seller could be supported. The impacts of any proposed option included as part of the rescoped projects will need to be worked through as part of the detailed scoping.

Water Infrastructure NSW is committed to creating local jobs and working with local communities on what the Better Baaka program’s initiatives will look like. This program presents an opportunity for local jobs to be created.

We will work in partnership with local and First Nations businesses to ensure our projects provide local economic and employment opportunities. Businesses are invited to register their interest in Water Infrastructure NSW projects via the online business registry.

The proposed Menindee Local Community Benefits initiative would develop and improve facilities to increase tourism and employment in the region. The proposal could include:

• building a Cultural Environment Educational Centre at Menindee to kickstart tourism in the local area
• improving access and safety to camping areas by sealing 13km of the Main Weir Road
• developing and improving recreational visitor amenities at Copi Hollow
• completely removing the Menindee Old Town Weir (noting this work has already commenced)
• improving recreational fishing access.

All options are on the table and a long list of options will be considered in the Regional Water Strategies.

The proposed initiative to improve town water security has identified up to three existing weirs at Pooncarie, Bourke and Collarenebri.

At Pooncarie, Water Infrastructure NSW is considering options, including raising the weir, modifying the existing fishway and installing gates to provide operational flexibility.

At Bourke, there is potential to replace or renew the weir, construct a new fishway and install a low-level outlet for more flexible operations. These initiatives will require environmental and engineer assessments and consideration of their current conditions.

We are also considering a new weir for the town of Collarenebri with a fishway to improve fish passage and gates to provide greater flexibility to move water through the weir.

All these projects would require environmental and engineering assessments and will need to go through the standard business case and planning approval processes.

Most of the sites considered are low level weirs and a range of fishway designs would be considered. One design is the vertical slot fishway, used in Australia for more than 25 years. It is a mature design that is proven to effectively allow fish passage. We would also consider a rock ramp fishway design. This design allows fish to get safely upstream and downstream. The actual final designs will vary by location.

The Australian Government is providing development funding for the Better Baaka Program, given it was developed in response to the request from the Ministerial Council for NSW to rescope the Menindee Lakes Water Saving SDLAM project. If projects within the program are to proceed to construction additional funding will be required and the source of that funding is to be agreed with the Australian Government and other Basin states.

The Better Baaka Program is looking to reinstate significant stretches of river for fish passage as well as ways to improve fish habitat and refuge sites. The presence of flowing water through fishways is a key component of supporting fish passage for native fish and ultimately improving the health of the Darling-Baaka river system.

The NSW Government’s Regional Water Strategies are investigating a range of options to:

• deliver and manage water for local communities
• enable economic prosperity
• recognise and protect Aboriginal cultural values and rights
• protect and enhance the environment
• deliver affordable policy and infrastructure options.

These strategies are being developed using the best available information on climate variability and other key water security risks to identify solutions to improve the resilience of water resources. This includes options to help support river health. These options include investments in infrastructure, changes in how we manage and operate river and groundwater system, and changes to our regulatory and policy frameworks.

We will consider all relevant options that can help keep the river healthy and improve water resilience, and pursue those which are technically, economically and environmentally viable.

Water Infrastructure NSW will create and monitor an evaluation plan to measure achievable outcomes.

The Regional Water Strategies set the long-term direction for the region by planning for water needs and to support environmental, social and economic outcomes. The strategies consider how much water a region needs to meet future demand and recommends effective ways to manage the risk to water security, reliability and resilience.

As such, the analysis and stakeholder feedback from the Better Baaka, Western Weirs and Connectivity stakeholder panel will all feed in to and shape the Western Regional Water Strategy.

Water Infrastructure NSW will be working in partnership with the relevant councils on the Better Baaka program and will ensure that any projects that are progressed are consistent with the community strategic plans.

Water Infrastructure NSW acknowledges many of the proposed Better Baaka initiatives do not fit within NSW’s existing SDLAM commitments in the southern Basin. We have established the Better Baaka program to look at a broader range of options along the length of the river. One of the key elements is the need to consult and collaborate with communities the different solutions and answers to what is needed to make the river healthier.

Once the program has been developed, in collaboration with the communities, the joint basin governments (Ministerial Council and Basin Officials Committee) will need to agree to the rescoped SDL elements of the Better Baaka program.  Modelling to understand the potential SDL offset for the rescoped project will commence once we have a clearer idea of viable options.

As the Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) modelled the package of 36 project nominated by South Australia, Victoria and NSW to determine the 605 GL SDL adjustment, exact numbers on any SDL contribution from the Better Baaka program, or the individual projects, cannot be provided at this time, and for completed projects it will only be known in 2024 when the MDBA undertakes the reconciliation of anticipated project outcomes and those in place by 30 June 2024.

The NSW Government is committed to delivering the economic, social, cultural and environmental outcomes intended by the Murray Darling Basin Plan.

NSW has a significantly heavier workload to implement the Basin Plan when compared to other Basin states given the large area of the Basin being found within NSW. NSW is responsible for delivering 20 out of 33 water resource plans, 21 of the 36 SDLAM projects and has 1,276 GL of water recovery target out of a total of 2,075 GL under the plan.

The Murray-Darling Basin Agreement sets out how water is shared in the southern Basin and is a core element of water management in this area of NSW. Under the agreement, all of the water cannot stay in NSW - with South Australia receiving water from both NSW and Victoria.

The NSW Government is committed to adaptive management and the ongoing review of how historical arrangements can be improved. Amending the Murray Darling Basin Agreement will require agreement by the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council.

We are committed to talking to the community and users about the future of weirs. We will work to understand the impacts on weirs ahead of any activity. Assessments will inform the level of work to be carried out, and no progress will be made until broad community support is achieved.

More information