Non-urban water metering to roll out faster

New South Wales is poised for a significant water metering overhaul. A new suite of recommendations is set to accelerate and streamline the rollout of non-urban metering reforms across the state. This means more efficient water management and a boost in compliance rates, opening exciting new opportunities for the pump industry.

New South Wales Minister for Water, Rose Jackson, said that counting every drop of water is critical as the state heads into a future of less predictable rainfall and climate extremes.

“We all have a right to know that water is being taken lawfully.

“The reality is that a relatively small proportion of larger water users account for most of the licensed water take in New South Wales, so it makes sense to concentrate our efforts on this cohort, which will give us far better outcomes when looking after our most precious resource.”

In 2023, the State Government conducted a comprehensive review of the current program, identifying several roadblocks to compliance. These included a statewide shortage of qualified personnel to install meters, inconsistent or inflexible metering rules, challenges with emerging technologies and high costs for smaller users.

Forging ahead with a ‘no meter, no pump’ approach, the metering roll-out had the handbrake on and was unlikely to achieve comprehensive coverage until at least 2040.

The following key recommendations will be prioritised over the next 12 months:

• Focusing resources where they are needed most, particularly on larger, high-risk water users first
• Expanding the workforce of people who can install tamper-evident meters by increasing the ways people can become certified, providing better training and broadening the definition of duly qualified persons (DQPs)
• Increasing direct support to DQPs in the field and improving the systems they use
• Making it cheaper, easier and faster for smaller and low-risk users to comply with the rules while mandating recording and reporting of licensed water take
• Strengthening the Natural Resources Access Regulator’s ability to enforce the law by removing barriers to compliance

Extending compliance deadlines for larger coastal water users from 1 December 2024 to 1 December 2026

These recommendations are intended to put the state on track to have 95 per cent of all licensed water take metered by the end of 2026 – around a decade sooner than projected – and help the New South Wales Government make faster progress towards its Murray Darling Basin Compliance Compact commitments.

Extensive community consultation was conducted from 30 October to 26 November 2023, including 29 public submissions, 124 survey responses and discussions at three public online information sessions, ensuring a wide range of opinions and voices were captured.

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