About water for the environment

Learn more about the role of water that is managed specifically to improve the health of rivers, wetlands and floodplains.

Water that is allocated and managed specifically to improve our riverine ecosystems is known as water for the environment. Learn more about what it is.

Learn about our water use in your local catchment

The department is responsible for the delivery of all water for the environment in New South Wales. This includes water held by the NSW government, the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder and Basin states under the Living Murray program, as well as water made available to the environment under Water Sharing Plans. The total volumes delivered from all types of water for the environment are shown for each catchment this water year. The presented use figures are best available estimates at the time of reporting.

Map indicates April figures only. For year to date, refer to table below.

Total water use in Basin catchment

Total: 1,137.90 GL
(2023–24 YTD)
 
0 GL
 
5 GL
 
10 GL
 
20 GL
 
30 GL
 
40 GL
 
50 GL
 
100 GL
 
300 GL
 
600+ GL

Total water use in Basin catchment

Total: 1,137.90 GL
(2023–24 YTD)

Catchment data

Catchment April 2024 (GL) Year to date (GL)
Barwon-Darling 0 1
Border Rivers 0 0
Gwydir 3 20
Intersecting Streams 6 6
Lachlan 5 39
Macquarie-Castlereagh 0.2 190
Murray and Lower Darling 54 497
Murrumbidgee 18 381
Namoi 0 4.5