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Letter to Minister – Ban floodplain water take

by healthyriverAugust 30, 2026August 30, 2026Leave a comment

Healthy Rivers Dubbo has written to NSW Water Minister Rose Jackson asking her to immediately ban the highly contentious form of irrigation – floodplain harvesting.

Startling revelations in NSW parliament from the Natural Resources Access Regulator CEO Grant Barnes have thrown into serious question the suitability of the law to stop water theft.

BACKGROUND:

Hansard – NSW Budget Estimates Wednesday 19th August from page 42

ABC NSW Country Hour with Dr Emma Carmody Wednesday 26th August, first story

Media Release Healthy Rivers Dubbo – Ban Floodplain Harvesting Now

Re: Ban Floodplain Harvesting

Dear Minister Jackson,

Healthy Rivers Dubbo is a long established grassroots community group providing a strong voice for the rivers and communities of inland NSW. We are writing to you today to ask you to immediately ban the practice of floodplain harvesting water.

It is clear that the Natural Resource Access Regulator is unable to confidently enforce floodplain harvesting regulations following the outcome of two recent court cases.

Could the Minister please explain how you can uphold your duty under section 9 of the Water Management Act 2000 (NSW), while the current regulatory system is not capable of effectively preventing unlawful or improper water take?

The significant growth in floodplain harvesting in inland NSW has been identified in many reports as a dominant factor in the mass fish kills at Menindee Lakes, and the sharp decline in wetland health and waterbird populations. The downstream cumulative cultural, environmental and social impact of floodplain harvesting has never been assessed.

Floodplain harvesting management rules and licencing in NSW is extremely contentious, having been disallowed several times in the NSW Legislative Council including while you were the NSW shadow water minister.

The continuation of floodplain harvesting undermines confidence in the rule of law and in the State’s ability to protect public water resources.

We look forward to your response.

Regards,

The Healthy Rivers Dubbo Committee.

Healthy Rivers Dubbo responds – Murray-Darling Basin Plan 10 year review What We Heard report

by healthyriverAugust 4, 2026August 4, 2026Leave a comment

Healthy Rivers Dubbo has been extremely disappointed in the Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s approach to the 10 year review of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

We found the discussion paper the Authority released as a guide to submissions led people away from considering the really important questions that the review must legally look at.

With these critical questions not directly asked by the Authority, it is inevitable that the Murray-Darling Basin Plan 10 year review submissions What We Heard report does not reflect the extent by which the Basin Plan is missing it’s legal obligations.

In our submission to the review, Healthy Rivers Dubbo showed unequivocally that:

The objectives of the Water Act 2007 are not being met
- The Ramsar listed Coorong Lakes, and the Macquarie Marshes are critically endangered and endangered ecological communities, with the Coorong facing a high chance of extinction within 10 years.
- The pumping limits were far to high from the beginning of the Plan, and must be bought down significantly as the science says.
- Cultural water flows have not been returned to Indigenous people.
The Basin Plan does nothing to address climate change impacts, which are already being felt. Shockingly, the MDBA is not recommending doing anything about that in the next 10 years, despite the Coorong facing a high chance of extinction in the time frame.
Data and modelling used for Basin water management is inaccessible to the public. Particularly in NSW, opaque data is an enormous problem.

River News

by healthyriverFebruary 10, 2026February 10, 2026Leave a comment

At long last the Macquarie Marshes have been listed as an Endangered Ecological Community under the federal EPBC Act. Only a handful of decades ago, the Marshes would spread over one million hectares in a big flood. At the height of the 2022 flood, they covered about 230,000 hectares. The listing means any new proposal – like keeping more water in Burrendong dam’s flood mitigation zone – would have to be assessed under the EPBC Act.

The Lower Murray River was listed as Critically Endangered, highlighting the still urgent need to address the problems arising from the over extraction of water from the Basin.

Water is released from Burrendong dam at a blistering rate. All of the high flows through Dubbo since December have been either destined for the pumps or used as operational water, to move water to a pump. With memories of 2019 when Dubbo was with 8 months of evacuation, Healthy Rivers Dubbo has launched our new campaign Get The Basics Right. We are calling on Water Minister Rose Jackson to make good on her promises – and her legislated duty – to fix our broken water rules once and for all. Our asks are stated here on our website, along with ways you can get involved or support our work.

Make sure you see the stunning work of artist Ruby Davies at the Western Plains Cultural Centre before the 26th of April.

‘Rivers Flow to the Sea, to the Sea’ is an exploration into the presence of the Darling/Baaka River through Dubbo-based artist Ruby Davies’ life and the overarching impact it has had on her as an artist. Through a collection of paintings, photographs and mixed-media material, this exploration traces Davies’ continued interaction with the river and the land that surrounds it.

The long awaited Basin Plan Review is happening this year, with the Basin Authority releasing a disscussion paper last week to initiate a 3 month consultation process. With over 100,000 fish dying in Menindee Lakes following an unprecidented heatwave with temperatures between 45 – almost 50 degrees for nine days, it was sobering to read that the Authority are proposing not to consider realigning extraction limits after consider climate change forcast. Learn more about the Basin Plan review from the conservation perspective at the Murray-Darling Conservation Alliance public information webinar February 17, 2026 6:30pm – 8pm RSVP here

Thankyou for supporting our work – donations are gratefully accepted.