This model is an evolving document. It is drawn substantially from the NSW, Victorian, and South Australian systems at this stage. It is designed to capture the best elements of approaches used in various Australian States. If you wish to contribute to its development, please email me with your suggestions (jon.nevill@bigpond.com).

The Boards are required to develop, in consultation with the public, Catchment Management Plans (CMPs). These plans incorporate a hierarchy of plans addressing key catchment issues. Water Allocation Plans (WAPs) address the allocation of surface and groundwater. There are also River Management Plans (RMPs), Aquifer Management Plans (AMPs) and Wetland Management Plans (WMPs).

Once assessed and approved by the Minister, the CMP becomes a statutory document, and must be formally considered by local government in approving developments or changing local landuse strategies or landuse zoning plans. The CMP must also be considered by State agencies whose works or activities may impact on the catchment, such as road construction authorities.

This document provides a model for a WAP.

The plan draws these directly from the Water Act, which in turn draws on key national and international strategies and agreements. These are discussed elsewhere.

The plan recognises the need to manage the cumulative effects of incremental water infrastructure development, and seeks to manage these impacts by the strategic implementation of caps or limits on such developments long before problems arise. The policy under which the plans are prepared recognises that, if the caps are considered only after problems become evident, they are unlikely to be efficient or effective.

The Water Allocation Plan must take into consideration:

• the need to further the objectives of the Water Act, within a framework provided by the principles of the Act;
• interdependencies between aquifers and surface flows;
• beneficial use of surface and groundwaters both now and in the future;
• dependence of ecosystems on surface and groundwater flows, taking special regard to ecosystems of high natural value, and identified representative ecosystems;
• reports on river and aquifer health prepared under the requirements of the Catchment Management Plan (reporting Index of Stream Condition ISC and Index of Aquifer Condition IAC).
• size and variations (seasonal and climatic) of surface and groundwater stocks and flows, the capacity of aquifers to buffer seasonal variations, and the ecological effects of these variations;
• impacts on the environment that may occur as a result of water utilisation (abstractions and discharges), and the risks associated with such impacts
• special significance of aquifer recharge and discharge zones;
• economic and social impacts of management options;
• needs and methods applicable to implementing, enforcing and auditing water plans; and
• scientific uncertainties, and the implications of such uncertainties for management plans.

The Water Allocation Plan must be prepared after the following information is assembled and examined:

• an assessment of the resource base including storage quantities, recharge and discharge rates, and variations, and directions of both surface and groundwater flows;
• identification of the degree of dependence of ecosystems on surface and groundwater flows, and the intrinsic, economic, scientific and aesthetic importance of those ecosystems;
• agricultural, industrial and domestic demands for water, including an assessment of their location, seasonal variations, quality requirements, and applicability of water conservation measures;
• identification of places of cultural importance, and the relationship between surface and groundwater resources and these places;
• development of an contaminants inventory; including point and area sources affecting both surface and groundwater resources;
• systems for monitoring and reporting the condition of both the water resource (surface and ground) and the condition of water-dependent ecosystems;

• setting local objectives, including environmental objectives, for surface and groundwater use and protection;
• establishing management and allocation criteria in line with ecologically sustainable use principles;
• determining appropriate values and uses for the resource;
• developing transfer strategies, where appropriate;
• devising protection priorities and mechanisms for dependent ecosystems;
• providing protection strategies for places of cultural significance related to water;
• devising infrastructure protection policies;
• where appropriate, providing rehabilitation and remediation programs;
• taking account of regional planing strategies and local government planning schemes, and by providing recommendations to local government regarding inclusion of specific water protection strategies and mechanisms in planning instruments (such as buffer zones, for example), and
• developing and budgeting for local monitoring, reporting and review mechanisms.

• the WAP must specify allocations, within the State planning framework, for environmental and human needs;
• allocations are to include provisions for the allocation and limitation (caps) of water for consumptive human use; 
• allocations are to include provisions for the distribution of available flows in years when rainfall is below average;
• allocations and caps are to be set for stream flows, surface flows and groundwater flows in a coordinated manner, recognising the inter-connections between groundwater and surface water;
• provisions are to be put in place for monitoring, reporting, enforcing, and reviewing water allocations.

ANZECC (1996) National Water Quality Management Strategy: National Principles for the Provision of Water for Ecosystems; Agriculture and Resource Management Council of Australia, and Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council, Canberra.