Community & Business
23 January, 2025
Improved water access for property firefighting during emergencies
Exemptions now apply to surface and groundwater source use during emergencies.
During a fire emergency, a landholder can now take water from surface and groundwater sources on their land without needing to have a water licence and water use approval, and this includes streams, creeks and rivers abutting a boundary.
This water can be used by landholders on their property and adjacent land to fight fires, and can also be used for training and controlled burning when carried out under the authority of a firefighting agency such as the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS).
This exemption has been made via amendments to the Water Management (General) Regulation 2018, in what the NSW government has described a commonsense reduction in red tape to improve the ability of farmers to fight fires on their own properties. Under the change, landholders who wish to prepare for the threat of bushfires can now also lawfully take water and store it in a tank or dam for future firefighting purposes.
The maximum volume allowed for each property is 100,000 litres (0.1 ML) per year.
The NSW government will carry out targeted periodic surveys of landholders to monitor how the exemption is being used. While landholders will not be required to submit reports, they are encouraged to log the volume of water they take under the exemption, for their own records. Emergency services minister, Jihad Dib, said the change will further empower landholders to deal with a fire threat.
