SWIOID Review Meeting #2: Stakeholder Advisory Group – Workshop 1 (11 Nov 2025)

The first Stakeholder Advisory Group (SAG) workshop for the SWIOID Review was held in Canberra on 11 November 2025, with 17 members attending from community groups, local government, conservation organisations, irrigators and other water users, First Nations representatives and Snowy Hydro Limited. 

Key outcomes were: 

• Shared understanding of the review context 
  Participants heard how the SWIOID and Snowy Water Licence currently manage flows, why the Upper Murrumbidgee is in poor health, and how climate change, bushfire and growing water use are increasing pressure on the system. 

• Introduction to Structured Decision Making 
  The facilitation team walked the group through the SDM steps – decision context, objectives and performance measures, alternatives, consequences and trade-offs – using examples from other river systems. 

• Draft objectives and performance measures 
  SAG members began refining draft objectives and measures across ecological health, water security, community values, recreation, First Nations values and energy. These will be used to evaluate different flow alternatives in later workshops. 

• Early flow alternatives 
  The group reviewed preliminary flow scenarios for releases from Tantangara Dam – including current conditions, a more natural “pre-development” reference, and several ecological options – and provided advice on which alternatives should be modelled first. 

• Next steps agreed 
  Immediate actions include distributing presentations and a workshop summary, providing access to a shared document repository, and preparing materials for SAG members to brief their networks. Before Workshop 2, members will be invited to webinars on environmental water requirements and modelling assumptions, and on Snowy Hydro operations and Upper Murrumbidgee flows. 

The Independent Review Panel has welcomed the quality of discussions and the commitment shown by SAG members to finding options that improve flows and river health while recognising downstream water users and the National Electricity Market. Their advice will sit alongside FNAG guidance, inter-governmental input and public submissions when the Panel makes its recommendations to government in 2026. 

Image: SAG Workshop 1 Infographic

Learn more about the SWIOID Review decision-making process here.