Water for primary industries

All aspects of primary industries are critically dependent on access to, and use of, water:

  • Production levels from both rainfed and irrigated agricultural and forestry enterprises are directly correlated to the volume of water available to the crops and how efficiently it is used.
  • The health and productivity of aquatic ecosystems, including fish, are dependent on total river flows, flow variability and water quality. The health of the catchment environment can be affected by the volume and pattern of overbank flows as well as rainfall and evaporation.
  • The coastal marine environment and therefore our coastal fisheries are affected by the quality and volumes of water arising from catchment flows.
  • Water is essential to maintain mining operations, and waste water from mining operations must be handled in a way which minimises impacts on the environment.

Industry & Investment NSW - Primary Industries provides information and supporting research findings to primary industries to encourage efficient and effective use of water and protection of aquatic ecosystems. It also manages some key legislation concerning fish.

NSW Office of Water manages key legislation about how water will be shared, traded and used; and NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change & Water (DECCW) manages legislation concerning water quality.

Further information

Tumut

Tumut River

Northparkes mine

Northparkes Mine

Related web links