Water and Marine

Water is a valuable resource and the challenge is to find an appropriate balance between extraction of water for human uses, while retaining sufficient water to maintain aquatic ecosystems in a healthy condition.

Image capturing Boulder Beach at Sunrise, just south of Lennox Head.

The topics in this theme describe how water resources are used in NSW and the condition of freshwater and marine ecosystems.

Water and Marine overview

For an overview of this theme, including Aboriginal perspectives click on the heading.

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Water Resources

The period 2018 to 2020 encompassed some of the most extreme weather ever experienced. Water extraction fell quickly and significantly less environmental water was delivered into inland rivers.

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Environmental water share

2,553 gigalitres

of entitlements, an increase of over 1,000 GL from 10 years ago

River Health

The overall condition of rivers across NSW is rated as moderate.

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Health of fish communities

>90%

of Murray–Darling Basin river valleys are rated 'poor' or worse

Wetlands

A return to drier weather conditions from 2017 affected the health of some wetland areas and reduced opportunities for waterbird breeding.

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Wetland area index of eastern Australia

104,015 ha

in 2020, below the long-term median

Groundwater

Overall average annual extraction from metered groundwater sources in NSW is being managed under the compliance rules in water sharing plans.

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Groundwater use in NSW

27%

of all metered water use comes from groundwater

Coastal, Estuarine and Marine Ecosystems

Water quality and ecosystem health in marine and beach environments are generally good.

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Recreational water quality

89%

of monitored swimming sites scored very good or good for recreational water quality in 2019–20