Despite the mess left by the previous Government from years of inaction, Minister for Water Rose Jackson said the current government did not want to give up on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

With the Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Act 2023 now in effect, the NSW Government remains committed to delivering the Murray Darling Basin Plan in full, in partnership with the Commonwealth and other Basin States, to support thriving ecosystems and economies.

“I’ve been very clear that my government does not support buybacks. This is not an empty promise – I have already demonstrated that I am taking action by releasing the NSW Alternatives to Buybacks Plan in February that clearly shows how we plan to minimise the exposure of regional communities to water buybacks.”

The NSW Government is passionate about getting the balance right when it comes to ensuring there is enough water for our regional towns, industry and the environment.

“This is a complex issue that won’t be solved overnight and requires a multipronged approach from all levels of government.

“Our number one focus is investing in infrastructure solutions to return water to the environment along with rules-based changes,” she said.

The NSW Government will engage with the community and other stakeholders on these projects and welcomes new ideas being brought forward.

“Water is the lifeblood of our regional communities and I am well aware of the challenges to water security and quality that we are facing right across the State of NSW,” Ms Jackson said.

In regard to SLAM projects Ms Jackson said this state was doing the heavy lifting when it came to delivering the Basin Plan and it would continue to work with the Australian Government to ensure the plan is delivered in a way that offsets the impact on regional communities.

“This includes returning water to the environment through NSW’s 21 Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism (SDLAM) infrastructure projects, with 12 either complete or in operation with project finalisation pending.”

In a major win for the Murray and Murrumbidgee, five of these projects have already received an additional $115 million and an extension of time to the end of 2026 to deliver critical water to support rivers, wetlands and wildlife.

These projects will modernise and refurbish infrastructure, enable more targeted river water delivery, boost aquatic and riparian habitats, provide improved fish passage, reinstate flows, generate local jobs, and provide better conditions for First Nations cultural activities.

“Meanwhile, we’re delivering major projects across the Murrumbidgee to modernise water infrastructure and return billions of litres of water back to the environment through the Australian Government’s $1.54 billion Off-Farm Efficiency Program.

“This includes the $126.5 million Murrumbidgee Irrigation Automation Finalisation Project, which will deliver 6.3 billion litres of environmental water by upgrading infrastructure to improve water efficiency across 190,000 hectares of irrigated land.

“The project will allow farms and agricultural businesses to produce crops more sustainably, while its implementation has boosted the Riverina economy by leveraging the expertise of local businesses to get the work done, creating around 100 jobs during construction and over 120 direct ongoing roles.

“A second project under the program, the $2.5 million Nap Nap Station upgrade near Hay is due to be completed by April and will significantly reduce evaporation to save 300 megalitres of water every year, which is a huge win for the station and the local community.

“Work includes replacing open channels with 85 kilometres of pipes and building pump stations, tanks and troughs across about 20,000 hectares of sheep and cattle grazing land. This will return 150 ML to the environment which is a great outcome because every drop counts”.

Ms Jackson said continuing to support the delivery of the Safe and Secure Water Program (SSWP) which is funding more than $1 billion worth of projects across the state, with over 270 in various stages of delivery.

This program replaces at risk water and sewerage infrastructure to improve town water quality and reliability and wastewater services.

This includes:

• $4 million for the newly completed Finley Water Treatment Plant which will boost water reliability and security for the town
• $330,000 to bring the upgrade of Moama’s sewage treatment plant up to tender ready phase so it can meet the needs of population growth and peak tourism periods
• $215,000 to help deliver a detailed feasibility study which aims to identify the best infrastructure solutions to improve water quality at Narrandera
• $165,000 to replace a bore and a further $48,000 for a scoping study to expand the South West Narrandera sewer network.
• $4.8 million to upgrade the Barellan sewerage system
• $1.5 million to expand the Leeton sewerage system to Wamoon which was finished last year

River water quality and fish health

Ms Jackson said fish health was taken very seriously which is why the NSW Government had stepped up river monitoring, increased resources and improved the way it managed water quality issues in the Darling-Baaka River system to allow it to respond immediately to changing conditions.

“Our network of in river multi depth water quality sensors installed around Menindee between Lake Pamamaroo and Weir 32 are providing real-time enhanced water quality data and we’re looking to install more across the Basin by mid 2025.

“Leveraging this information, we’ve released several carefully timed pulses of water from Lake Pamamaroo in recent months when deadly destratification events were threatening fish health near Menindee. This has successfully improved dissolved oxygen levels throughout the water column and prevented major fish deaths which is great news for the community and the environment.

“The current consistent flow releases are designed to stop persistent stratification from occurring.

Town water risk reduction program

The Government is also continuing to rollout the $32.5 million Town Water Risk Reduction Program that is 100 per cent about improving town water quality including funding upgrades to treatment infrastructure, providing on-the-ground and remote technical support, increasing the monitoring of raw water and delivering expert help with dam safety assessments.

Two of the first 10 regional councils to benefit from the new $1.5 million Advanced Operation Support grants program include Hay Shire and Murrumbidgee Council.

Leak detection

Ms Jackson said continuing to implement the $12.5 million Regional Leakage Reduction Program which aims to save a staggering 7.5 billion litres every year.

About 70 per cent of all regional local water utilities have taken part in various stages of the program with 5.8 billion litres save so far.

“In addition to all the work we are doing to address town water quality, we are also focused on boosting water efficiency by funding leak detection work to help Local Council’s save water and reduce losses to make water networks more sustainable.”

There have already been three rounds of leak detection work including in the following Local Government Areas: Narrandera, Lockhart, Murrumbidgee, Coolamon, Albury, Berrigan, Griffith, Federation, Edward River, Temora, Junee, Bland, Wagga Wagga, Greater Hume, Hay and Balranald.

This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 14 March 2024.