Past water use – Macquarie Valley

This page shows when, where and how much water we’ve delivered in the Macquarie Valley in previous water years.

'CEW' refers to Commonwealth environmental water. All water volumes are in megalitres (ML).

For any watering actions completed this water year, visit Latest water use.

Environmental watering in the catchment in previous years

Table 9: Watering actions we completed in the Macquarie Valley in 2025–26
Location	Water delivered (ML)	Delivery dates	Outcomes
Macquarie River	CEW use: 62,350 ML NSW use: 110,723 ML Total: 13,073 ML	July 2025 to June 2026	Supported wetland vegetation in the Macquarie Marshes Supported native fish such as Murray cod and freshwater catfish to breed and survive. Provided habitat for waterbirds, frogs, fish, rakali and platypus. Increased river connectivity, including to the Barwon–Darling.

Table 8: Watering actions we completed in the Macquarie Valley in 2024–25
Location	Water delivered (ML)	Delivery dates	Outcomes
Macquarie River	CEW use: 67,763 NSW use: 137,862 Total: 205,625	July 2024 to June 2025	Supported wetland vegetation in the Macquarie Marshes Supported native fish such as Murray cod and freshwater catfish to breed and survive. Provided habitat for waterbirds, frogs, fish, rakali and platypus. Increased river connectivity, including to the Barwon–Darling.

Table 7: Watering actions we completed in the Macquarie Valley in 2023–24
Location	Water delivered (ML)	Delivery dates	Outcomes
Macquarie River	CEW use: 59,879 NSW use: 137,114 Total: 196,993	August to June 2024	Supported wetland vegetation in the Macquarie Marshes Supported native fish such as Murray cod and freshwater catfish to breed and survive. Provided habitat for waterbirds, frogs, fish, rakali and platypus. Increased river connectivity, including to the Barwon–Darling. For more information visit 2023–24 Macquarie River Valley updates

Table 6: Watering actions we completed in the Macquarie Valley in 2022–23
Location	Water delivered (ML)	Delivery dates	Outcomes
Macquarie River and Marshes	CEW use: 12,433 NSW use: 48,276 Total:60,709	February to March 2023 March to May 2023	Encouraged plants to grow back and build resilience in the Macquarie Marshes. Enhanced the quality of areas where waterbirds breed. Created areas with food and water for waterbirds to help them survive and stay healthy. Supported Murray cod and freshwater catfish to breed and survive. Increased river connectivity to provide native fish with more places to move and take refuge. Supported waterbirds during the breeding cycle if an event occurs.

Table 5: Watering actions we completed in the Macquarie Valley in 2021–22
Location	Water delivered (ML)	Delivery dates	Outcomes
Mid-Macquarie River / Wambuul and Macquarie Marshes	CEW use: 4,312 NSW use: 63,800 Total: 68,112	2021–22	Supported waterbirds, native and frogs in the Marshes. Maintained waterbird breeding and feeding habitat. Kept the lower Macquarie River and Marshes connected. For more information, visit 2021–22 Macquarie River Valley updates.
Macquarie Marshes (supplementary entitlements)	CEW use: 6,588 NSW use: 1,162 Total: 7,750	July to August 2021 February to May 2022	Supported the recovery of wetland plants. Provided habitat for waterbirds, native fish and frogs. Inundated the Marshes with water. Supported the completion of waterbird breeding. Maintained waterbird feeding habitat.

Table 4: Watering actions we completed in the Macquarie Valley in 2020–21
Location	Water delivered (ML)	Delivery dates	Outcomes
Macquarie River and Marshes	CEW use: 37,488 NSW use: 111,992 Total: 149,480	2020–21	Supported further post-drought recovery in the system, providing benefits for native fish, wetland plants, waterbirds and frogs. Supported the breeding and recruitment of Murray cod in the mid-Macquarie River. Supported the growth of about 9,000 hectares of core wetland plants in the Macquarie Marshes. For more information, visit 2020–21 Macquarie River Valley updates.
Macquarie Marshes (supplementary entitlements)	CEW use: 1,063 NSW use: 187 Total: 1,250	August 2020 to March 2021	Protected some of the natural flows in the mid-Macquarie River. Supported the recovery of wetland plants in the Macquarie Marshes. Provided habitat for waterbirds, native fish and frogs in the Macquarie Marshes.

Table 3: Watering actions we completed in the Macquarie Valley in 2019–20
Location	Water delivered (ML)	Delivery dates	Outcomes
Macquarie catchment (supplementary entitlements)	CEW use: 3,895.55 NSW use: 687.45 Total: 4,583	February to April 2020	Protected some of the natural flows in the mid-Macquarie River. Supported the recovery of wetland plants. Provided habitat for waterbirds, native fish and frogs. For more information, visit Macquarie River Valley 2019–20 Water Use.

Table 2 lists watering actions we completed in the Macquarie Valley in 2018–19.

These watering actions were managed in collaboration with:

Table 2: Watering actions we completed in the Macquarie Valley in 2018–19
Location	Water delivered (ML)	Delivery dates	Outcomes
Mid-Macquarie River and Marshes	CEW use: 51,401 NSW use: 75,076 Total: 126,477	24 July to 11 December 2018	Maintained the ecological health and resilience of the Macquarie River catchment. Supported the recruitment of semi-permanent wetland plants. Provided benefits for native fish, such as Murray cod and freshwater catfish, and waterbirds.
Bogan River	CEW use: 150 NSW use: 150 Total: 300	March 2019 to May 2019	Maintained fish refuge habitat. supported key refuge habitat during extreme drought conditions. Prevented the death of native fish, including endangered olive perchlet.
Ewenmar Creek	CEW use: 520 NSW use: 280 Total: 800	March to May 2019	Maintained fish refuge habitat. Supported key refuge habitat during extreme drought conditions. Prevented the death of native fish, including endangered olive perchlet.

Table 1: Watering actions we completed in the Macquarie Valley in 2017–18
Location	Water delivered (ML)	Delivery dates	Outcomes
Mid-Macquarie River and Macquarie Marshes	CEW use: 50,660 NSW use: 83,717 Total: 134,377	19 July to 12 November 2017	Maintained the ecological health and resilience of the wetlands. Supported the recruitment of semi-permanent wetland plants. Provided benefits for waterbirds and native fish like Murray cod and freshwater catfish.