Let the water flow

In an unprecedented crisis for the mighty inland rivers of NSW, the state and federal government are stopping water from naturally flowing down stream to wetlands and waterways that rely on it.

The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder has paused all releases of water, while the NSW government has paused a portion of water releases.

Legal advice obtained by the NSW government earlier this year found that all water moving from a ‘regulated water source’ to an ‘unregulated water source’ is considered as taken, meaning it would require a licence. An amendment to a regulation is required to ...

In an unprecedented crisis for the mighty inland rivers of NSW, the state and federal government are stopping water from naturally flowing down stream to wetlands and waterways that rely on it.

The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder has paused all releases of water, while the NSW government has paused a portion of water releases.

Legal advice obtained by the NSW government earlier this year found that all water moving from a ‘regulated water source’ to an ‘unregulated water source’ is considered as taken, meaning it would require a licence. An amendment to a regulation is required to fix this issue, which is expected in the next few months.

In short, due to a legal technicality, the rivers are being persecuted as if they are stealing their own water.

At the same time, some environmental water deliveries are being assessed by the Natural Resources Access Regulator to make sure they are accurately metered.

The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder has taken the extreme decision to pause all releases of commonwealth environmental water. Despite being assured by the Natural Resources Access Regulator that they will not and cannot be prosecuted for releasing environmental water, the water holder is acting with “abundant caution” by continuing to hold up all water releases.

The timing could not be worse. Spring is when wetland vegetation needs fresh inundation to remain healthy for when large-scale waterbird breeding events occur in the Macquarie Marshes and other Ramsar-listed wetlands. Without healthy wetlands, eggs won’t be laid, chicks won’t hatch, and already dwindling bird populations will plummet further. Native fish, including Murray cod and silver perch, depend on these flows to migrate and spawn. Pausing water at this critical season is not a neutral delay — it is the loss of an entire generation of life.

Beyond wildlife, communities will also feel the damage. Healthy rivers support cultural values, recreation, and tourism, and underpin the resilience of farming landscapes.

The Environmental Water Holders can release these critical flows but are choosing not to. Send an email today to tell the NSW and Federal Governments to let the water flow.

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Express Concern

An extraordinary situation has arisen in NSW, and unless there is swift and bold leadership, inland rivers and internationally significant wetlands will miss out on vital watering this season. Write an email to key decision makers now, calling for the immediate release of environmental water.

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Dear Minister Watt, Minister Sharpe and Dr Banks,

I am writing to express my deep concern at the continued withholding of environmental water, and to urge you to act decisively to ensure that critical spring flows are delivered to NSW wetlands including the Macquarie Marshes and Gwydir Wetlands in 2025.

Denying environmental water releases to NSW’s internationally significant wetlands this spring will squander the impressive environmental gains that have been made since the 2022 floods, and ensure that places like the Macquarie Marshes lose a once in a generation opportunity to recover from decades of overextraction and lengthy droughts.

Wetlands, rivers and floodplains across inland NSW are already under immense stress. The latest NSW State of the Environment Report tells us the number of fishkills has tripled in recent years, and 17 out of 28 inland wetlands assessed are classified as being in poor condition.

Waterbird populations are also suffering. Both the abundance and breeding activity of waterbirds are rated as poor and continuing to decline, largely due to the ongoing loss of wetland habitat.

At present, legal uncertainty in NSW has paralysed the delivery of Commonwealth-held water and some NSW environmental water, leaving only a fraction of the planned spring allocation available. All departments and relevant ministers agree this unintended legal complexity, which found that a river can steal its own water, is untenable and will be dealt with as soon as possible.

Waiting for the correcting regulatory amendment to go through NSW parliament would mean the water would arrive too late for this year’s growing and breeding season.

The NSW Natural Resources Access Regulator has confirmed that they will not and cannot prosecute environmental water holders if water is released before the regulation is amended.

The legal responsibilities of the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder and the NSW Government under a broad range of Acts and Conventions to protect and restore the environmental assets in the Murray-Darling Basin clearly outweigh any perceived risks of not delivering water.

With nothing standing in the way, I ask you to release environmental flows in time for this spring.

Failure to act now will condemn some of Australia’s most important wetlands, and the threatened species they support, to further decline.

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