Murrumbidgee Regional Water Strategy

The Murrumbidgee Regional Water Strategy and how it will be delivered is set out in the following strategy and implementation plan documents:

Secure, reliable and resilient water supplies are critical to regional and remote communities in NSW. Water contributes to the appeal and prosperity of rural areas, and regional towns and cities.

Changing demands for water, increased climate variability and shifting community expectations means that the department will need to plan for and invest in improved long-term regional water security.

The Murrumbidgee Regional Water Strategy identifies the key water-related regional challenges we need to tackle over the coming decades and outlines the actions to respond to them. The best and latest climate evidence, along with a wide range of tools and solutions, has been used to chart a progressive journey for water needs for the next 20 years and beyond.

The strategy identifies 4 regional challenges and 4 regional priorities. It also proposes practical actions for each priority.

These priorities and proposed actions aim to improve the Murrumbidgee region’s readiness to adapt to a more variable climate and support the difficult decisions needed to deliver healthy, reliable and resilient water resources for the region’s future.

The Murrumbidgee Regional Water Strategy is supported by an Implementation Plan that list funded sub-actions for delivery now. Funded sub-actions are works that are underway or planned (and funded) for delivery within 5 years by implementation partners. Unfunded longer-term sub-actions specified in the Murrumbidgee Regional Water Strategy will be carried out when funding becomes available.

This phased implementation is based on NSW government's capacity to deliver. We have heard from stakeholders that most actions in the strategy should be a priority. However, not all sub-actions can be progressed at once, and funding is a key consideration in planning when and how the actions will be implemented.

Monitoring and reporting

The Murrumbidgee Regional Water Strategy has been designed to be adaptive. This means we will update the strategy and implementation plan to respond to changing circumstances and priorities when there is clear evidence to do so. 

As a component of monitoring, evaluation and reporting, the department reports annually on implementation. The annual report is a way for the community to track progress and for the department to show which actions have been delivered, or progressed, in that year.