The NSW Government has taken decisive action to address community concerns about water security in Western NSW, by reviewing the designs of fishways so they have no impact on local weir heights.
The $56.8 million Fish Passage: Reconnecting the Northern Basin Project aims to improve native fish migration and boost river health, supporting a 70 GL reduction in water recovery targets in the Northern Basin under the Basin Plan.
The Minns Labor Government is committed to building a better NSW with safer and more secure water supply, and acknowledges the communities of Louth, Tilpa, Walgett, and Collarenebri are strongly opposed to any reduction in their local weir heights.
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water has been working closely with the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development - Fisheries to finalise a new design for the fishways.
The new design includes a small capping sill across part of the weir crests that will allow the fishways to operate effectively and maintain the current full supply level.
The work will not just install fishways, it will fix the leaks in the weirs to bring water loss down.
This solution enables native fish to migrate and breed, while also safeguarding local water supplies and meeting the needs of local communities.
Technical investigations will be undertaken to confirm this approach and drop-in community sessions to discuss the updated designs will be held in late October 2025, with exact dates and details to be confirmed soon at this website.
The project is funded under the Australian Government's Northern Basin Toolkit: https://www.dcceew.gov.au/water/policy/mdb/northernbasin/northern-basin-toolkit
Minister for Water Rose Jackson said:
"This is a great example of why getting boots on the ground and taking time to have conversations directly with locals is a critical part of the decision-making process.
"I have attended dozens of meetings with stakeholders to listen and understand the different perspectives. While residents understand the need to improve native fish movement, they have been abundantly clear that it cannot be at the expense of their town water storage.
"That's why I have stepped in to get this issue sorted. It's great that we've been able to find a potential compromise that suits all parties without reducing the weir height at all and still delivering the fish passage we need.
"While we'll still need to do the regular checks and balances, we believe we've found the answer and we're looking forward to returning to the community in the coming weeks with this design."
Member for Barwon Roy Butler said:
"I'd like to thank Minister Rose Jackson and Federal Minister Murray Watt for hearing the concerns of these communities.
"It's still fresh in our minds how devastating the drought in 2018 was and it's understandable these communities were opposed to any reduction in the capacity of the weir pool.
"This new proposal allows for a very important passage of fish but also acknowledges community concerns about water security."
