Stream Flow Management Plans (SFMP), developed under the Water Act 1989, complement Environmental Water Reserves.

Developed with the local community, they manage the water resources of unregulated waterways that are under stress, or where there is a demand for more development.

A number of Stream Flow Management Plans are being developed around the state (Read a story about this).

A Stream Flow Management Plan ensures that all surface water in a catchment is managed in an orderly manner, providing for the stream’s environmental needs as well as an agreed, reliable and equitable water distribution between users.

The Plan includes:

• environmental flow needs
• rules for sharing available streamflows between users when water is scarce
• monitoring and metering programs
• the amount of extra water that can be allocated, and rules for allocating it
• conditions under which licenses may be traded or transferred.

Like Groundwater Management Plans, there is a legislative basis for Streamflow Management Plans.

The government acts to ensure that unregulated rivers and streams that are not significantly stressed remain this way by:

• recognising the ecological stress caused by summer extractions of water and banning the issue of new summer licences
• issuing new licences from July to October only, when spare water is under the sustainable diversion limit for the catchment
• introducing state-wide management rules for licensees who extract water in summer.