Reliable Surface Water in New South Wales for Biophysical Strategic Agricultural Land

Reliable surface water supply areas in New South Wales, defined by 150-meter buffers from regulated and unregulated rivers and creeks. Created in 2013 by the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, this dataset is used to identify Biophysical Strategic Agricultural Land (BSAL) for mining development assessments. The data is part of a tri-criteria framework that also includes reliable rainfall and highly productive groundwater.

Use Cases

• Identify land with reliable water access for agricultural planning based on the defined buffer criteria.
• Conduct regional and site-level assessments for Biophysical Strategic Agricultural Land (BSAL) classification based on the tri-criteria framework.
• Support State Significant Development applications requiring a Site Verification Certificate based on BSAL presence.
• Analyze spatial relationships between water resources and strategic agricultural zones based on the geospatial mapping.

Strengths

• Created by the authoritative NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
• Uses a clear, rule-based definition involving 150-meter buffers from specific stream orders.
• Integrates with two other datasets (reliable rainfall and groundwater) for a holistic land assessment framework.
• Has a defined regulatory purpose under the Mining SEPP for site verification.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data was created in 2013; freshness should be verified despite a 2026 metadata update.

Provenance

Source

NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water – Water Group

Collection Method

Geospatial analysis applying buffer rules to river and creek networks.

Time Range

Created in 2013.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-27 06:53:17.858997; freshness should be verified

Geography

New South Wales, Australia