Coastal water user associations have won a deadline extension on coastal metering compliance to 1 December 2026.
The NSW Irrigators' Council coastal valleys forum sought the compliance extension from the NSW Government, citing a broad range of continuing barriers to compliance beyond the control of water users.
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) has acknowledged many of these barriers in the Metering Recommendations Report released in August 2024.
In addition to the coastal compliance date extension, the NSW Government has taken on coastal water user associations' recommendations to:
- provide a simple pathway to correctly identify inactive works;
- provide a low-risk water user exemption and less costly metering requirements for lower volume water users;
- improve Duly Qualified Persons (DQP) support; and,
- continue size-based metering thresholds for already compliant water users.
"The two-year coastal extensions and new metering rule changes are a step towards addressing the practical shortfalls of the metering reform," says NSWIC CEO Claire Miller.
"The NSW Government now has time to support coastal water users to understand how the new rules apply to them, and to ensure the services they need to comply are readily available, like accessing a DQP."
The updated coastal metering compliance dates are:
- Compliance required now: surface water pumps >500mm.
- Compliant by 1 Dec 2026: works nominated by total entitlement >100ML, unless otherwise exempt*.
- Compliant by 1 Dec 2027 or work approval renewal: works nominated by total entitlement >15ML and <100ML, unless otherwise exempt*.
*If there is only one bore or pump on the property: bores less than 200mm and surface water pumps less than 100mm are exempt.
A detailed list of measurement requirements for all work types is on the NSW Government Water website.
The NSWIC coastal valleys forum continues to call on the NSW Government to organise adequate communication, education and support for coastal water users to ensure they understand how to meet their recording, reporting and metering requirements.
Members of the NSW Irrigators' coastal valleys forum are:
