New South Wales Consolidated Acts

WATER MANAGEMENT ACT 2000 - SECT 20

20 Core provisions

(1) The water sharing provisions of a management plan for a water management area or water source must deal with the following matters:

(a) the establishment of environmental water rules and provisions relating to adaptive environmental water for the area or water source,

(b) the identification of requirements for water within the area, or from the water source, to satisfy basic landholder rights,

(c) the identification of requirements for water for extraction under access licences,

(d) the establishment of access licence dealing rules for the area or water source,

(e) the establishment of a bulk access regime for the extraction of water under access licences, having regard to the rules referred to in paragraphs (a) and (d) and the requirements referred to in paragraphs (b) and (c).

(2) The bulk access regime referred to in subsection (1) (e):

(a) must recognise and be consistent with any limits to the availability of water that are set (whether by the relevant management plan or otherwise) in relation to the water sources to which the regime relates, and

(b) must establish rules according to which access licences are to be granted and managed and available water determinations to be made, and

(c) must recognise the effect of climatic variability on the availability of water, and

(d) may establish rules with respect to the priorities according to which water allocations are to be adjusted as a consequence of any reduction in the availability of water, and

(e) may contain provisions with respect to the conditions that must (as mandatory conditions) be imposed on access licences under section 66 (1), including conditions providing for the variation, from time to time, of the share and extraction components of access licences, and

(f) must be consistent with the water management principles.

(3) The rules referred to in subsection (2) (d) must comply with the priorities established under section 58.

(4) The access licence dealing rules established under subsection (1) (d):

(a) must comply with the access licence dealing principles, and

(b) must not deal with any matter for which the access licence dealing principles may make provision under section 71Z (2), and

(c) subject to paragraph (b) and the access licence dealing principles, may regulate or prohibit any dealing under Division 4 of Part 2 of Chapter 3.