Commonwealth water for the environment was first released in the Namoi River in 2013. Since then, both the Namoi and Peel rivers have received this water, which has:
- improved the quality and availability of habitat
- increased productivity and connections along and between rivers
- helped native fish move, survive, and thrive.
The latest achievements are below. To learn more about past water delivery, visit Past water use.
Drought recovery
Between 2017 and 2020, the Namoi Valley went through extreme drought. It experienced the lowest rainfall and highest temperatures on record.
The environment lacked enough water and flows were low. Refuge pools dried up, fish died, and riverbank vegetation was stressed.
In early 2020, conditions began to improve. Rainfall brought much-needed water to parts of the lower Namoi and Peel rivers. Though it took a while for water storages to recover. General Security entitlements weren't released until September 2020 in the Namoi and January 2021 in the Peel.
Ongoing benefits
In 2021, the Peel River received both Commonwealth and NSW water for the environment. This saw a small baseflow downstream of Chaffey Dam, which:
- improved water quality
- improved food and habitat availability
- supported native fish and platypus.
More rain and inflows increased the amount of stored and available water in 2021. Water for the environment wasn't needed during 2021–22. This was due to the lower Namoi and Peel rivers getting enough from rainfall, tributary flows, and dam releases.