New South Wales Consolidated Regulations

WATER SHARING PLAN FOR THE UPPER BILLABONG WATER SOURCE 2003 - REG 11

11 Objectives

The objectives of this Plan are to:

(a) protect natural low flows (flows from the very low and A classes),

(b) protect important rises in river levels,

(c) protect a proportion of moderate flows (B class flows),

(d) maintain wetland and floodplain inundation,

(e) protect the natural wetting and drying cycles of ephemeral waterways,

(f) provide water to meet existing and future licensed domestic and stock requirements, conditional on climatic variability, the provision of water for environmental purposes and the provision of water to meet basic landholder rights requirements,

(g) provide for the practical sharing of water for other licensed consumptive uses, conditional on climatic variability, the provision of water for environmental purposes, the provision of water to meet basic landholder rights requirements and the provision of water to meet existing and future licensed domestic and stock requirements,

(h) provide a share of water to preserve identified values downstream of this water source, conditional on climatic variability,

(i) protect wetland areas with traditional native aquatic plants used by Aboriginal people for food, medicines and habitat,

(j) respect and protect Wiradjuri heritage sites and culture through the management of water extraction from this water source,

(k) recognise and protect any other traditional values of water to Aboriginal people, and

(l) contribute to the achievement of water quality to support the environmental values of this water source.

Note: This objective refers to maintaining water quality. Although there are no specific strategies directly related to this objective in this Plan, the environmental water provisions in this Plan make a positive contribution to maintaining water quality.