Reliable Surface Water Supply Areas in New South Wales

Reliable Surface Water in NSW was created by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water - Water Group in 2013. It identifies land in New South Wales with a reliable surface water supply based on 150-meter buffers around regulated and unregulated rivers and creeks. This dataset is used to classify Biophysical Strategic Agricultural Land (BSAL) for State Significant Development applications under the Mining SEPP.

Use Cases

• Identify land with reliable water access for agricultural planning based on the buffer criteria.
• Assess development site compliance with Mining SEPP regulations based on BSAL classification.
• Integrate with rainfall and groundwater datasets for comprehensive water resource analysis.

Strengths

• Created by a government department (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water - Water Group).
• Specifically defines reliable surface water using clear buffer distances (150 meters) and stream order criteria.
• Has a defined role in a formal regulatory process (Mining SEPP Site Verification Certificates).

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Freshness should be verified as the data was created in 2013.

Provenance

Source

Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water - Water Group; Spatial Services (DCS)

Collection Method

Defined by buffering regulated and unregulated rivers and creeks.

Time Range

Created in 2013.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-17 17:06:11.129290.

Geography

New South Wales, Australia.