Changing water availability reflected in NSW opening allocations

Today’s opening allocations for licenced water users in NSW are mostly full, with dams still holding strong volumes from wet years despite contrasting rainfall in the north and south of the state.

Most general security licences will have access to good quantities of water in the 2025-26 water year thanks to these allocations and/or carryover entitlement from previous years.

While coastal catchments are mostly fully allocated, some inland regions may see lower opening allocations than recent years due to dry conditions affecting South Australia, Victoria and Southern NSW.

Importantly, allocations for all high priority uses including critical town supply, environmental and domestic and stock watering are full, locking in water security where it’s needed most.

The Lower Namoi is the only regulated valley not to receive full supplementary access allocations. Most groundwater users have also been fully allocated, as have floodplain harvesting licence holders.

This reflects varied rainfall across the state in the past 12 months, with some systems receiving above average levels providing helpful inflows, while others getting below average rain and reductions in water availability, in particular the Murray and Murrumbidgee Valleys.

Major dams throughout the rural network have moderate, albeit dropping, storage levels at an average of about 60 percent capacity, totalling around 10,800 gigalitres, down from 75 percent last year.

The NSW Government will continue to monitor conditions and announce changes to water availability and outlooks as the 2025-26 water year progresses.

Water allocation statements for major inland regulated river systems are published and updated at least monthly:  Allocations | NSW Government Water

NSW DCCEEW Director of Water Planning Implementation, Allan Raine, said:

“We’re seeing a tale of two regions emerge in NSW, with the north recently getting plenty of rain but parts of the south experiencing drought, which we’re keeping a close eye on.

“The good news is there’s still generally strong water availability across most valleys to support our thriving regional communities, businesses and environments.

“While some allocations are lower than last year, it’s important to remember we’ve come off the back of a few years of record rain and drier times were always going to return at some point.

“We’ll keep water users updated if we need to make changes to allocations to ensure we’re managing water availability as sensibly as possible.”