1.3.1.4 Assessing water dependence

Assets in the asset database that intersect the PAE of the Sydney Basin form the asset list for the Sydney Basin bioregion. The water dependency of each asset in the asset list must then be assessed. Only assets that have a water dependency qualify for inclusion in the water-dependent asset register. Thus any asset that might potentially be affected by changes in the groundwater and/or surface water regime due to coal resource development is added to the water-dependent asset register. Many assets are clearly ‘water dependent’, including all economic assets (i.e. water access entitlements and reservoirs).

For ecological assets, features such as rivers, wetlands, lakes, lagoons and groundwater-dependent ecosystems are clearly water dependent; however, the water dependency of other assets, such as nature reserves and conservation areas, is less certain. The water dependency of nature reserves and conservation areas was determined based on their intersection with obvious surface water and groundwater features. Assets that do not overlap with obvious water features were judged not to be water dependent. The water dependency of threatened species and communities were assessed on a case-by-case basis, based on their profiles in the Species Profile and Threats Database (SPRAT) (Australian Government Department of the Environment, Dataset 10; Bioregional Assessment Programme, Dataset 11) and the NSW BioNet website (NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, 2016).

A similar approach was taken to judge the water dependency of sociocultural assets. The water dependency of sociocultural assets is not always obvious, so it was assumed that within some specified distance of a water feature, there is the potential for changes in groundwater table or streamflow regime to impact the assets. A 500 m buffer (i.e. the same buffer width used to define the area around streams where surface water and groundwater potentially interact (see section 1.3.1.3.3 and Figure 12)) – was put around all rivers and wetlands, and this was intersected with the sociocultural assets to identify those having a potential water dependency.

Water dependence was determined for a preliminary list of assets to produce a preliminary version of the water-dependent asset register. For transparency, decisions about water dependency are recorded in the asset database. The preliminary version of the water-dependent asset register, with associated maps and data, was presented to experts and organisations with local knowledge at the Sydney Basin asset workshop in Penrith (NSW) in August 2015 for comment and feedback. There were 14 participants from state and local governments and 10 participants from Commonwealth agencies and the Assessment team (Table 17). The participants demonstrated an enormous willingness to provide additional or better data to improve the water-dependent asset register for the subregion.

Most participants had seen the preliminary list of assets prior to the workshop and had already identified missing datasets. There were very few issues raised on the day and the discussions were mostly around additional data that could be made available. They are summarised in Table 18, together with the BA response to these issues.

Following the workshop, three weeks was allowed to follow up additional datasets from the local government and state agencies. Where datasets were deemed fit-for-BA purpose and the assets were within the PAE, they were added to the water-dependent asset register.

More details about the ecological, economic and sociocultural water-dependent assets identified in the Sydney Basin bioregion, and the reasons for their inclusion or exclusion from the water-dependent asset register, are described in Section 1.3.2, Section 1.3.3 and Section 1.3.4 respectively.

The water-dependent asset register is an authoritative listing of the assets that will be included in other components of the BA; all spatial data and other data associated with each asset are stored in the asset database.

Table 17 Organisations represented at the Sydney Basin bioregion asset workshop held in Penrith on 24 August 2015

Table 18 Issues and comments from the Sydney Basin bioregion asset workshop and actions for the Assessment team

BA = bioregional assessment, CAPAD = Collaborative Australian Protected Areas Database, CMA = catchment management authority, DIWA = A directory of important wetlands in Australia, DPI = New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, EPBC Act = Commonwealth’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation 1999, EIS = environmental impact statement, GDE = groundwater-dependent ecosystems, OEH = Office of Environment and Heritage, PAE = preliminary assessment extent, WAIT = Water Asset Information Tool, WSP = water sharing plan