Summary 2020-2021 Water Year
At the start of the current water year (1 July 2020) there was 12,560 megalitres of general security water allocation carried over for irrigation and 30,860 megalitres for environmental water managers (NSW and CEWO held, and Environmental Contingency Allowance) from previous year allocations.
Full allocations were announced for critical water users including high security users and groundwater, were made available. Groundwater users have limited carry over allocations with an estimated 15,000 megalitres remaining.
There were general security allocation announcements, 8 out of 12 months this water year which totaled 58.07% in total, the largest occuring in March 2021.
The region experienced minor flooding in December 2020 and then major flooding in March 2021, which inundated the floodplain and caused significant damage to Moree and surrounding communities. This provided unregulated flows, full supplementary allocations and floodplain harvesting opportunity throughout the floodplain.
Whilst there was good water availability for the year, the majority of allocations and river flows were after key planting decision timeframes and the majority of water made available was carried over into the following water year for use in 2021-2022.
| Entitlement Type | Irrigation (ML) | Environmental (ML) | Allocation % | Date | Irrigation usage (ML) | Environment usage (ML) | Carryover Irrigation (ML) | Carryover Environmental (ML) |
| High Security | 8,490 | 4,457 | 100% | 31-May-21 | 7,253 | 1,300 | NA | NA |
| General Security* | 214,310 | 71,600 | 58.07% | 31-May-21 | 50,370 | 9,800 | 214,310 | 71,600 |
| ECA | NA | 37,420 | 58.07% | 31-May-21 | NA | 8,010 | NA | 37,420 |
| Supplementary ** | 157,805 | 23,592 | 100% | 31-May-21 | 143,811 | 162,189 | NA | NA |
| Groundwater | 19,312 | 5,700 | 100% | 31-May-21 | 25,459 | 5,700 | 19,312 | |
| * This includes transfers ** Event basis |