The following can be attributed to Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, Dr Simon Banks:
The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH) has temporarily paused all environmental watering actions in New South Wales (NSW). This is due to a recent shift in how held environmental water is interpreted under various NSW water-sharing and policy frameworks, including the NSW Non-Urban Water Metering Policy.
This change has introduced significant complexity and uncertainty, impacting our ability to deliver Commonwealth environmental water in NSW. My team and I are actively engaging with the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) and other relevant agencies to gain a shared understanding of the implications and ensure our actions are fully compliant.
Compliance is a core priority for the CEWH. As one of the most heavily regulated water users in the Murray-Darling Basin, we are committed to acting as a model licence holder. The CEWH team is working diligently to find a resolution. We will only proceed with our watering actions once we are confident all our obligations are met under the current interpretation of NSW rules.
We understand the concern this pause may cause for Basin communities and the potential implications for the environment. We are committed to providing updates as the situation evolves and to ensuring NSW policies support effective environmental water management now and into the future. These rules and policies must be fit-for-purpose and enable us to optimise the results we can achieve for the environment and Basin communities.
Resources
Updates on our watering actions across the Basin are published fortnightly at in the Water Region section.
View CEWH's submission to the review of the NSW Non-urban metering rules (pp. 5- 8), which is available from our website at Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder Submissions and reviews - DCCEEW.
Download a high-res image of Dr Simon Banks.
