NSW Ends Legal Power to Flood Blue Mountains National Park and Allows Water NSW to Manage Downstream Floods

Water NSW Amendment (Warragamba Dam) Bill 2026

Independent Bill

26 Mar 2026: MPs in the first house are debating whether this bill is a good idea in principle.

Legislative Assembly

Legislative Council

Assent

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Topics

dams flood mitigation national parks water management

Introduced by: Judy Hannan MP (IND)

Links to official parliament websites

Official page: progress through parliament

Official page: bill text and explanatory notes

Effects of this bill

If this bill passes, it means that:

The existing legal provisions that allowed temporary inundation (flooding) of national park land as a consequence of raising the Warragamba Dam wall are repealed, removing the legal basis for that aspect of the dam wall-raising project.
Water NSW is explicitly authorised to operate Warragamba Dam for the purpose of flood mitigation downstream of the dam, overriding any contrary conditions in its operating licence.

News articles and press releases

Water NSW Amendment (Warragamba Dam) Bill 2026

Mrs JUDY HANNAN, Member for Wollondilly — 2026-03-19

The bill is for an Act to amend the Water NSW Act 2014 to repeal provisions relating to Warragamba Dam that previously allowed for the temporary inundation of national park land that could likely result from raising the dam wall, and it authorises WaterNSW to operate Warragamba Dam to facilitate downstream flood mitigation for related purposes.