The State's 20-year plan for water security for the Lachlan has been described as a "wasted opportunity" by Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke.

The recently released strategy, delayed since the change of government in early 2023, falls far short of what is needed to secure water resilience for the Lachlan Valley, the State MP said.

The plan, as reported in last week's edition, follows extensive consultation undertaken by the previous government from 2020 to 2022, culminating in a comprehensive draft strategy centred on raising the Wyangala Dam wall—a project critical for drought resilience and flood mitigation.

The Labor Government scrapped the plan, instead re-releasing a pared-down “shortlist of actions”.

Ms Cooke described the strategy as woefully inadequate, offering no tangible solutions.

“Two years on, we’ve been handed a report that commits to little more than ‘investigating’ water reliability measures," she said.

"There is no commitment to building infrastructure, no strategy for carp control, and no plan to replenish the Lachlan system while diverting water to the Macquarie Valley.

“This so-called strategy is nothing more than a report about writing more reports. The Minns Labor Government has had years to deliver meaningful solutions, yet they’ve handed down a document that offers vague priorities without a single funded project to directly improve water security for the Lachlan region.”

Ms Cooke said the absence of significant infrastructure projects, particularly the decision to scrap the Wyangala Dam wall raising, highlights a glaring lack of leadership.

“Since scrapping the Wyangala Dam wall-raising project, the NSW Government is yet to propose any alternative that provides even a fraction of the water security, flood mitigation, and drought resilience that this region desperately needs,” she said.

“The Minns Government has effectively told Lachlan Valley communities to wait five, ten, or even 20 years for outcomes that are currently unfunded. This is an insult to the people of our communities who rely on secure water for their livelihoods, towns, and industries.”

The strategy was released just before Christmas and Lachlan Valley Water's executive officer labelled it a 'lump of coal'.

The strategy proposes three priorities: 1 Build resilience to climate extremes, 2 Improve Catchment Health, and 3 Support the water needs of a strong and sustainable economy.

“These priorities would be great if only there were actions to actually deliver them,” Lachlan Valley Water executive officer Glenn Daley said.

“There’s not one tangible project or priority that will directly result in better water security for the region.

"The report is filled with suggestions for more investigations, more studies, more modelling etc etc – it’s essentially a report to say they need to do more reports.”

Lachlan Valley Water chair and Forbes farmer Tom Green said the strategy was underwhelming.

“It’s been some 15 months since they quashed the Wyangala Dam wall raising project, a project which would have actually provided some resilience and mitigation to the valley, and nothing has been provided in the strategy to replace it," he said.