WATER management of the Murrumbidgee River was a top concern for residents who attended a community information session tonight.
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The state's Industry Water Department's water planning director Peter Hyde talked through the changes of a draft Murrumbidgee Surface Water Resource Plan, which is currently on public exhibition.
Mr Hyde said there are three key changes that people needed to be aware of. But, he assured the alterations will not impact on current water users.
"The first is changing the objectives of the plan because we need better objectives to measure and evaluate how the plan is progressing and if we are getting the outcomes we are wanting," he said.
"We are improving management of environmental water through prerequisite policy measures, which means we can use the environmental water that we have, in a better way and get better outcomes.
"The final big one is the ability to manage the amount water that is taken under the basin plan."
While the information session in Wagga sought feedback on the draft plan, those in attendance used the opportunity to ask questions about a variety of issues, Mr Hyde said.
"There have been many questions around how we manage water within the Murrumbidgee River and a lot of the questions we heard have been reflective of local issues - and that is what we tend to find happens at these information sessions," he said.
In other news:
Anthony McCloskey, a water broker based in Griffith, attended the information session hoping to find clarifications on the state government's draft plan.
"I think it's positive to see the separation of the unregulated water sources from the alluvial. It's good they can focus on and have separate plans for groundwater and unregulated water sources, in terms of simplicity and being able to deal with each thing individually is a good idea," he said.
"Anything in water at the moment needs more transparency - be that water trading, how environmental water is used and the results it achieves to where it ends up and how the water is allocated".
The draft Murrumbidgee Surface Water Resource Plan is one of the 20 water resource plans seeking public feedback. The community has until July 14 to have a say via the state's Department of Industry website.
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