SWIOID Review Stakeholder Advisory Group – Workshop 2 ( 1- Dec 2025)
The second Stakeholder Advisory Group (SAG) workshop for the SWIOID Review was held in Canberra on 10 December 2025, with 16 members attending from community groups, local government, conservation organisations, irrigators and other water users, First Nations representatives and Snowy Hydro Limited.
Here’s what was discussed:
SAG members shared how much they valued the open access to information and the time taken to build a common knowledge base - a foundation they see as essential for good decision-making.
There was a strong sense that communities in the Murrumbidgee are feeling overwhelmed, with multiple water reform processes underway, including potential buybacks. These overlapping efforts are adding pressure on regional communities already doing it tough.
The group reviewed the ecological and socio-economic objectives being used to assess different water flow options. They’re grouped into seven key themes - which are 1. ecological, 2. water security and supply, 3.Human health and safety, 4. Recreation, 5. Energy reliability and affordability, 6. Extractive water use and 7. Water management costs.
The SAG recommended refining some of the performance measures (especially around wellbeing and recreation) and adjusting language that could be misleading, like “stable” or “declining” to describe river health.
The group explored a range of river flow scenarios - starting with two extreme “bookend” cases (one showing the current regulated flow regime, the other imagining no development at all) — and then looked at three middle-ground options that aim to respond to drought, to protect species, to actively restore river health.
Two more ambitious alternatives were also proposed that would require changes to Tantangara Dam infrastructure: one to guarantee a minimum of 30% of natural flow (enough to trigger overbank flows where needed), and one to meet all environmental water requirements at key sites, essentially asking: “What would the river need to truly be healthy?”
The SAG emphasised the need for seasonally appropriate baseflow regime, and that flexibility in management should underpin all future options.
The group began thinking about complementary, non-flow measures like improving riparian zones, removing fish barriers, restocking fish populations, and managing invasive species. These actions will become key topics in the next workshop.
Tools like visual ranking and trade-off tables were introduced to help the group balance competing priorities in future discussions.
SAG members are eager to hear more from the First Nations Advisory Group (FNAG), particularly around the wellbeing indicators they’ve developed to assess flow scenarios.
At the next workshop the SAG will review the preliminary (Round 1) flow options using outputs of the MDBA integrated modelling, consider trade-offs between the alternatives, consider complementary measures, and provide recommendations for flow options (Round 2 options).
Why this matters
This workshop is part of a bigger, long-term effort to design fair, flexible, and sustainable water management for the Upper Murrumbidgee. As pressures from drought, development, and climate change increase, getting river flows right is more important than ever — for ecosystems, communities, and future generations.
📣 Have your say
The Upper Murrumbidgee Independent Review Panel’s Issues Paper is now open for public input. We need you to read the paper and put a submission in so that our Ministers know we support changes to the Upper Murrumbidgee. This is a quote from the Executive Summary of the Issues Paper:
"The Upper Murrumbidgee River is in abysmal condition, and the current management framework is failing to deliver the environmental, social and cultural outcomes that were originally intended."
Explore the paper and join the conversation here.
Learn more about the SWIOID Review decision-making process here.