Taking a holistic approach to land and water management.
Healthy waterways need holistic land and water management systems and decision-making processes.
What we have delivered in 2023-2024
The health of our surface water and groundwater systems is directly affected by the land use and land management practices in surrounding catchments. Land management practices impact riverine health and a decline in catchment and river health threatens ecosystems and negatively impacts on Aboriginal people’s connection to Country as well as water quality for towns and communities. The responsibility for managing water quality is shared between state and local agencies and the department is working collaboratively with our land and water sector partners on catchment scale decision-making, planning and project delivery.
An independent review into the 2023 fish deaths in the Darling-Baaka River at Menindee was undertaken by the Office of the Chief Scientist and Engineer (OCSE). The review found that the event was symptomatic of broader degradation of ecosystem health and consequential long-term pressure on the Darling-Baaka River system.
Regular community updates on river operations, fish health and water quality are provided on our website.
Water quality management in NSW has been too complex for too long. Over 30 agencies and organisations have a role to play, and over 50 legislative instruments contribute to the water quality management framework in NSW.
Good governance that is enduring, state-wide and focused on water quality outcomes is needed to help improve the health and connectivity of our rivers, floodplains and aquifer ecosystems.
To improve water quality governance, the NSW Government published the Water Quality Governance Roadmap. The delivery of the roadmap completes action 3.5.1 of the NSW Water Strategy Implementation Plan 2022-2024.
The roadmap takes the complexities of shared management across NSW into account as it lays out what is being done to better integrate the management of land, water and other natural resources for improved water quality outcomes.
The Water Quality Governance Roadmap responds to several issues raised in the Office of the NSW Chief Scientist’s independent review into the 2023 Menindee fish deaths and is highlighted in the NSW Government’s response to the review.
A key initiative highlighted in the roadmap is the new Integrated Catchment Management Work Program. The NSW Government is investing $1.7 million over 2 years in the work program to develop a reform package for a new, enhanced integrated catchment management framework and governance model. Key reform options will be confirmed in 2026.
The roadmap also paves the way for process improvements in water quality data management, fostering greater transparency and visibility. It focuses on key initiatives seeking to better coordinate monitoring efforts, ensuring that management decisions are both appropriate and timely.
Contribution to water strategies
Holistic land and water management contribute to implementing the following water strategies:
- NSW Water Strategy
- Take landscape scale action to improve river and catchment health
- Better integrate land use planning and water management
- Regional water strategies
- Support whole-of-catchment governance
- Undertake broadscale, long-term catchment management and better integrating land use and water management
- Rehabilitate regionally significant riparian, wetland and floodplain reaches
- NSW Groundwater Strategy
- Better integrate groundwater management with other land and water management processes
- Greater Sydney Water Strategy actions
- Maintain and improve ecosystem health