THE HON TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER
THE HON ROSE JACKSON MLC
NSW MINISTER FOR WATER
MEDIA RELEASE
Thursday 6 February 2025
$10.5 million for water use monitors across NSW Murray-Darling
More than 2,500 groundwater and surface water sites across the Murray-Darling Basin in New South Wales will receive state-of-the-art telemetry devices and installation, boosting water monitoring and management, easing costs for users, and helping the state fast-track its metering reforms.
Telemetry supports sustainable water use by sending real-time data to water management agencies, helping to ensure licensed water taken from inland regional water sources is extracted fairly, equitably and according to the rules.
A significant investment of $10.5 million from the Albanese Government will see these devices fully funded and installed in eligible sites in NSW over the next two and a half years.
Accurate monitoring is crucial for water resource planning and compliance, and the use of telemetry reduces the need for licence holders to report manually, saving them time and money.
Eligible sites include those extracting from groundwater sources in the Murray-Darling Basin with an annual entitlement of 100 megalitres (ML) or greater. Sites drawing from surface water systems within the Basin may also be considered as a secondary priority.
The NSW Government is now calling on telemetry equipment suppliers and installers to attend an online tender briefing on 12 February 2025 and to participate in a request for tender via the e-tendering website: NSW Telemetry Uplift Program – buy.nsw
Contracts are expected to be awarded and installations to begin in the first half of 2025.
More information for water users, including eligibility and how to apply, will be available in the coming months via the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water (DCCEEW).
The funding comes as NSW gets on with the job of streamlining its metering roll-out and implementing a suite of recommendations to ease water users’ barriers to compliance.
These include simplifying metering requirements for smaller and low-risk water users, extending compliance deadlines for coastal water users, addressing the shortage of meter installers and improving their training opportunities and resources, among many others.
NSW is on track to have 95 per cent of all licensed water entitlement metered by the end of next year.
For more information on NSW’s non-urban metering work, visit: https://water.dpie.nsw.gov.au/our-work/nsw-non-urban-water-metering/review-of-the-non-urban-metering-rules
Minister for the Environment and Water, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, said:
“Accurate metering benefits us all – gives us better information and saves time. That’s why our Government is investing $10.5 million to install 2,515 telemetry devices across NSW Murray-Darling Basin communities.
“This is just one part of our commitment to improve transparency of water use across the Basin, to ensure water is used fairly and sustainably to support communities, industry and our environment."
NSW Minister for Water, Rose Jackson, said:
“This program is fantastic news for thousands of water users across the NSW Basin, saving significant out-of-pocket costs and helping them comply with metering rules.
“We’re incredibly pleased to be working with the Australian Government as it injects $10.5 million to roll-out these devices in the coming months, boosting our state’s robust metering network and ensuring we can accurately measure each and every drop.
"We're primarily targeting groundwater sites across the Basin, recognising that the state’s aquifers are under increasing pressure due to a changing climate, population growth and heightened demand.
“Groundwater-dependent ecosystems are crucial for maintaining the Basin’s biodiversity and ecology, particularly where groundwater may be the only reliable source of water.”
ENDS
