19th August 2025
The Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales (NCC) is demanding the Minns Government urgently fix legal loopholes that are paralysing the delivery of vital water for the environment across the NSW Murray–Darling Basin.
According to the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, Dr Simon Banks, 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.”
NCC is calling on the water minister, Rose Jackson, and her department, to urgently find a solution so that this water is released.
In just one example of the consequences of this delay – water that sustains habitat at one of the most important water-bird breeding sites in the Macquarie Marshes has not yet been released, in a time when populations of water birds are in serious decline across the region.
“This is an unprecedented situation. This delay of critical water for the rivers, is a result of a system that has been designed to prioritise irrigators over environmental water,” said Nature Conservation Council NSW Water Campaigner, Mel Gray.
“This is not an accident. It is the result of NSW water rules that have been twisted to force environmental water to be treated as if it were irrigation – metered, regulated and delayed by red tape that was never designed for the environment.”
Water for the environment is absolutely critical for the survival of inland NSW’s rivers, wetlands, native fish and waterbirds – yet, according to the NSW Government in a briefing last week – in some places it could be withheld for up to 18 months. The consequences are catastrophic.
The latest State of the Environment Report already shows inland NSW in ecological freefall. Native fish populations are poor and worsening with more species critically endangered; wetlands are shrinking, with only 12% protected and most in poor condition; waterbird abundance and breeding activity both rated poor and declining; and fish kills along the Basin have tripled in the last four years.
“Delaying environmental flows is not just negligence – it is knowingly pushing fragile ecosystems closer to collapse,” said Ms Gray.
Statements attributable to Mel Gray, Water Campaigner for Nature Conservation Council NSW:
“The law in NSW is clear – water sources and their dependent ecosystems must be protected before water is allocated to other uses like irrigation. Right now, that principle is being twisted beyond recognition.”
“This management system is designed to fail rivers. It leaves fish, birds, wetlands and communities without the flows they need, while the water that could save them sits idle. That’s not governance – it’s sabotage.”
“The Minns Government must cut through this red tape immediately. If they don’t, they are choosing to let inland NSW’s rivers die.”
Statements attributable to Garry and Leanne Hall, Macquarie Marshes Environmental Landholders Association:
“As private Ramsar managers in the Macquarie Marshes, we are both in shock that the NSW government can be put in this position.”
“Environmental water left in rivers is not the same as water take and it cannot be treated the same. Its bureaucracy gone crazy and completely unaccountable.”
ENDS
Background:
- NSW regulations have been designed to facilitate irrigation.
- There is a current interpretation of the regulations that environmental water requires to be metered like irrigation water when it crossed arbitrary boundaries between water sources.
- This can delay delivery of critical environmental flows by up to 18 months in some locations.
- Environmental flows are essential for restoring wetlands, supporting fish migration, and enabling waterbird breeding.
- Current delays are compounding more than a century of over-extraction and degradation in the Murray–Darling Basin.