Improving the Health of the Upper Murrumbidgee
Issue for irrigators
The Australian Government is seeking community feedback from water users on the Snowy Water Inquiry Outcomes Implementation Deed (the SWIOID). This is the first major review of the SWIOID and has the potential to impact NSW water users’ access to water in the Upper Murrumbidgee. The review will examine the option to divert more water through the Upper Murrumbidgee, which would result in higher transmission losses than the current approach of routing most releases through to Blowering Dam. Higher transmission losses through the Upper Murrumbidgee would mean less water for Burrinjuck Dam, ultimately decreasing the size of the consumptive pool to be re-regulated for use by water entitlement holders in the regulated Murrumbidgee water source. A decrease in the size of the available pool would mean decreased reliability for general security users’ allocations.
Get involved
NSWIC is encouraging water users on the Murrumbidgee Regulated River to make a submission to the SWIOID review. Submissions close on 13 February 2026.
The Upper Murrumbidgee
The Upper Murrumbidgee is the stretch of river that runs through NSW and the ACT, from Tantangara Dam to Burrinjuck Dam. After the construction of the Snowy Scheme, most of the water that previously flowed down the Upper Murrumbidgee was re-regulated in the Snowy Scheme, resulting in ecological decline along this stretch of the river.
Image 1. Map of the Upper Murrumbidgee and its interaction with the Snowy Scheme and downstream dams. Note: Tantangara Dam is the unlabelled storage at the headwaters of Upper Murrumbidgee.
Improving the Health of the Upper Murrumbidgee Program
In late-2023, the Australian Government earmarked $55.6 million for the program “Improving the Health of the Upper Murrumbidgee” as part of the Restoring our Rivers Act negotiations. Among other things, this program is seeking to release more water from Tantangara Dam down the Upper Murrumbidgee (past Cooma and through the ACT).
SWIOID review
As part of this program, governments will re-open the 2002 SWIOID, a tri-government agreement between NSW, Victoria, Snowy Hydro and the Commonwealth. The SWIOID was an enabling agreement between governments for implementation of the Snowy Water Inquiry outcomes. It sets environmental flow targets for montane rivers like the Snowy River and Upper Murrumbidgee, which have been included in the current Snowy Water Licence. The SWIOID review will examine arrangements for current montane releases and additional environmental water to rivers impacted by the Snowy Scheme, and includes consideration of the ACT’s future water security.
NSWIC engagement
NSWIC has been actively engaged in the Upper Murrumbidgee program since it was announced in mid-2024. We have made submissions to the Draft Strategy and the Drought Operating Framework and are a member of the Stakeholder Advisory Group that is providing advice to government, as part of the SWIOID review.
Resources
Improving the Health of the Upper Murrumbidgee, Commonwealth-DCCEEW
Review of the Snowy Water Inquiry Outcomes Implementation Deed
Upper Murrumbidgee Drought Operating Framework
