Water sharing plans articulate the rules by which water is distributed to various users.

Water sharing rules

Water sharing plans were developed for a range of widely differing rivers and aquifers. Some of the issues considered in forming water sharing rules include:

Indicative access rules were firstly developed by balancing the instream values with the economic dependence of local communities on extraction. The greater the risk to instream values the stronger the environmental flow rules. The higher the economic dependency the less stringent the access rule. Where economic dependency and instream values are both high, more intensive management is proposed.

In the water sharing plan the stress from all upstream extraction is compared with the instream values to determine a set of preliminary water trading rules. Trading is not allowed into water sources that have high instream value. Trading is also limited in stressed water sources so as not to increase pressure on the river.

To help customers implement the provisions of a water sharing plan, a series of rule sheets have been developed.

Water sharing plans are prepared as Minister’s plans under Section 50 of the Act. The first water sharing plans were developed in 2004

Water sharing plans for groundwater specify: