Water Management Principles

General

• Water in and from the Hawkesbury-Nepean is essential to the economic, environmental and social wellbeing of the largest urban centre on the driest inhabited continent on Earth.

• Access to the catchment's water resources must be limited to ensure their ecological health and function is sustained and the water is valued and reasonably shared between users to support a diversity of social and economic activities. This includes water from the main rivers, their tributaries, groundwater and overland flows.

• Almost all activities in the catchment have some impact on the waters of the catchment; therefore all proposals must demonstrate how they will progress towards the achievement of the state-wide standards and targets for natural resource management and other agreed objectives, such as the Statement of Joint Intent for the Hawkesbury Nepean River system (SoJI).

• Water management decisions in the Hawkesbury Nepean catchment should be integrated across all water management sectors and based on scientifically sound and transparent methods that allow for an assessment of their contribution to achieving the agreed catchment objectives. Both water managers and regulatory instruments should be regularly assessed on their achievement of these objectives.

Environmental

• As stated in the Water Management Act 2000, water management should protect, enhance and restore water sources, their associated ecosystems, ecological processes and biological diversity and their water quality. The needs of water dependent ecosystems, such as riparian areas, wetlands and estuaries must generally have primacy and be demonstrated in all water management activities, such as water sharing plans.

• Environmental water is defined according to section 8 of the Water Management Act 2000 and consists of planned environmental water and adaptive environmental water;

a) Planned Environmental Water is water that is committed by management plans for fundamental ecosystem health or other specified environmental purposes. It is available either generally or at specified times or circumstances. It cannot to be taken or used for any other purpose.

b) Adaptive Environmental Water is water that is committed by the conditions of access licences for specified environmental purposes. It is available either generally or at specified times or circumstances.

• Environmental water should mimic the natural flow regimes in terms of frequency, quality (including temperature), timing and duration of flows. For groundwater systems it must reflect recharge rates and the needs of groundwater dependent ecosystems. Environmental water must be protected from extraction and unnatural discharges that are unsympathetic to the flow regime.

• Water management initiatives should be consistent with the recommendations of the Hawkesbury Nepean River Health Strategy.

• Land management activities in the catchment can impact water quality and ecosystem health and should be managed to neutralise adverse impacts.

Water Management

• Water has been an undervalued resource which has resulted in overuse and inefficiency. All water use should be best practice and as efficient as possible. Subsidised efficiency gains should result in some reallocation to the environment.

• Water management should follow the principles of Integrated Water Cycle Management. With demand management, reuse of wastewater, use of treated recycled water and other alternative water supplies before new water sources are accessed.

• All wastewater systems, including sewage treatment plants, on-site sewage systems, stormwater systems and commercial discharges should be operated to have neutral or beneficial impacts on the environment, including impacts on water quality, quantity and natural flow regimes.

• Treated wastewater, including sewage effluent, urban stormwater surges and commercial discharges is a valuable resource, all wastewater management strategies should consider opportunities to reuse and recycle.

• Environmental Protection Licence conditions for all discharges, including sewage treatment plants should be consistent with the water quality objectives agreed to in the SoJI.

• Stormwater management plans should contribute to achieving the water quality objectives agreed to in the SoJI.

• Stormwater is a valuable resource and its treatment and reuse is encouraged. However, these projects must consider the needs of the water bodies and their dependent ecosystems and provide for adequate water quantity and quality.

• Prices and charges for water, wastewater and stormwater services should reflect their true costs, including their long-term environmental impacts. The proportion of funds raised to address environmental impacts must be directed to mitigation activities. The process for identifying costs and directing funds to the environment must be transparent.

• Monitoring programs in the catchment, such as the Department of Environment & Climate Change's Integrated Water Quality Monitoring Program for the Hawkesbury Nepean River System should provide natural resource managers like the HNCMA with information on the impacts of activities and developments on ecosystem health, water quality and quantity and the achievement of catchment targets.

Adaptive Environmental Water

• The HNCMA may invest in activities that achieve water savings. The HNCMA will endeavour to transfer a proportion of these savings to an Adaptive Environmental Water Licence. For example if the HNCMA contributes 50% of the funding, 50% of the water savings will be transferred to the environment.