The Minns Labor Government has acted quickly to ensure rivers, wetlands and floodplains across the state keep getting the water they need by resolving uncertainty around environmental watering rules.
The Water Management (General) Amendment (Water Return Flow Rules and Exemptions) 2025 has commenced, providing legal certainty for environmental water holders who had temporarily paused the release of some flows out of an abundance of caution.
The updated regulation clears up confusion about when river operators need a water licence to release water for the environment, reaffirming the Minns Government's commitment to building a better and fairer NSW.
Now, if the water is being released as part of water sharing plans or an operating licence, the regulation confirms that a water licence is not required.
Licence exemptions also apply for environmental watering being directed to priority environmental sites where the water has been released from a regulated river water storage and has already been measured once.
The amending Regulation establishes a set of return flow rules which enable water allocations to be recredited to accounts to deliver environmental water.
Metering obligations continue to apply to licensed environmental water that is taken through a pump, pipe or regulator in the same way they do to all other water users. The NSW Government and environmental managers are working to ensure metering equipment is installed at these sites and compliance with the requirements is achieved as a priority.
Environmental water is essential to the wellbeing of aquatic ecosystems, supporting countless native plant and animal species.
To read the legislation please visit: https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/pdf/asmade/sl-2025-488
Minister for Water Rose Jackson said:
"I know the delay on some environmental water flows in the past few weeks has caused concern. That's why as soon as we found this technical issue, I asked my Department to respond as an absolute priority.
"We've been taking steps to implement the strongest water management framework in the country including ensuring all licenced water is properly metered and measured.
"Now we have a policy setting in place that better reflects the operational realities of environmental water delivery, while continuing to uphold and improve transparency and accountability for all water users."
