New South Wales Consolidated Regulations

WATER SHARING PLAN FOR THE LOWER MURRUMBIDGEE GROUNDWATER SOURCES 2003 - REG 36

36 Water level management

(1) The Minister may declare that, in order to protect water levels within these groundwater sources, local access rules are to apply in a defined area known as a local impact area.

(2) Local extraction restrictions will first apply once contoured drawdown or recovery depths exceed trigger levels specified by the Minister for 2 or more successive years, or unacceptable levels of drawdown or recovery specified by the Minister are observed in a single year.

(3) Local extraction restrictions will apply to such an extent and for such time as to reduce the rate of pressure decline, or in response to unacceptable seasonal drawdown or recovery, to ensure pressure recovery occurs to acceptable levels.

(4) Local extraction restrictions may increase to prevent unacceptable seasonal drawdown and unacceptable recovery levels, as specified by the Minister.

(5) In the Shallow Groundwater Source, if the depth to the watertable outside areas where the water table has risen unnaturally, and its lowering is required, is identified as having a declining trend to the extent that local ecosystems could be adversely impacted upon by the 2015/16 water year, then a review of extraction by access licence holders in the affected area will be undertaken.

(6) If the review in subclause (5) reveals it is required, extraction will be restricted in the local impact area to such an extent and for such a time as required to stabilise and if necessary restore the watertable to an appropriate level, as determined by the Minister.

(7) This clause does not apply to local water utility access licences.

Note: This clause recognises that in some locations, at certain periods of high groundwater demand, critical water level declines may occur, and that additional extraction limitations may be required.
Groundwater pressures are referenced to the top of the relevant aquifer. A local impact area is to be identified from a map of the piezometric surface change, showing seasonal, annual or longer patterns of drawdown or recovery in an aquifer.