A water licence, approval or NRAR issue

Generally yes, unless a specific exemption or a basic landholder right applies. Domestic and stock rights and harvestable rights allow limited water use without a licence under the Water Management Act 2000 (NSW), but they have real limits on purpose, volume and the works used. Beyond them, taking water generally needs a water access licence, and the works themselves need their own approvals. The licence, the approvals and the actual take all need to match, because mismatches between them are the most common source of compliance trouble.

First identify the document, statutory section, named recipient, service date and each deadline; an invitation to engage voluntarily is different from a notice compelling records or answers. Preserve the original records and metadata, including licence and approval documents, allocation statements, meter and telemetry exports, maintenance records, maps and contractor material, then map them against the works and water years in issue. A natural person who is required to provide information or answer questions may have a qualified direct-use protection if, when doing so, they object on self-incrimination grounds or are not warned on that occasion that they may object. That protection applies only in criminal and civil penalty proceedings, and not in proceedings about the requirement itself, such as for giving false or misleading information, so the information or answers can still be used for a charge, allocation debit or direction. It is not a right to refuse compliance, does not protect a corporation and does not make pre-existing records inadmissible. Seek any clarification, variation or extension in writing before the due date, and do not assume a challenge or appeal stays the instrument.

Only some decisions carry a merits appeal. Section 368 of the Water Management Act 2000 lists appealable decisions, including a decision under section 60G, a decision to impose a charge under section 91O, a decision to give a direction under Chapter 7 Part 1 and a decision suspending or cancelling an access licence or approval. Section 11(6) of the Natural Resources Access Regulator Act 2017 extends those rights to the same decisions when NRAR makes them. An appeal must be filed within 28 days after the date on which the decision was made, and it does not stay the decision unless the Land and Environment Court directs otherwise. An information notice, interview requirement, inspection or informal contact is not made appealable merely because NRAR issued it, although judicial review may be available for a legal or jurisdictional error. The instrument and enabling provision therefore need to be checked immediately.

A controlled activity approval under the Water Management Act 2000 (NSW) is generally required for works and activities in, on or under waterfront land, which extends a set distance from the bank of a river, lake or estuary. It commonly catches driveways, crossings, stormwater outlets, filling and structures near creeks even where the main development already has consent, and it is one of the approvals most often missed in project planning. Whether an approval is needed, and any exemptions, depend on the land, the waterway and the works proposed.