From 29 August 2025, the NSW Government will commence negotiations with landowners to secure flood easements along the Murrumbidgee River, between Darlington Point and Balranald, under its Reconnecting River Country Program.

Bobbie Pannowitz Solicitor at Cater & Blumer Solicitors based in Griffith, NSW, said of the Program that:

“The NSW Government has embarked on a very ambitious piece of water policy with the Reconnecting River Country Program.

“The Program is designed to relax constraints along the Murrumbidgee River to deliver more environmental water, more often, to off-river wetlands and floodplains.

“To secure these flows, the NSW Government needs to obtain easements from landowners, to enable flooding / inundation of parts of their land.

“The impacts could be significant, with the maximum flow limit (as measured at the Wagga Wagga gauge) to be increased from 22,000 ML per day to up to 40,000 ML per day.

“While those flows won’t commence until 2031, negotiations are starting now.

“Landowners should expect to receive invitations to negotiate (or may have already) which they will then have 28 days to respond to, and a further 12 months to negotiate.”

Mr Pannowitz continued:

“The NSW Government must compensate landowners for the easements, taking into account the extent of inundation, current land use, impact on third parties, and the market value of the land (among other matters).

“If landowners fail to negotiate an easement interest, their land could be compulsorily acquired.

“At Cater & Blumer Solicitors, we identified a need for landowners to obtain more information about this Program and how to negotiate the best possible outcome – they need to engage in negotiations and get the right advice to do so.

“To assist landowners, we’re holding an Easement Negotiation Information Session at 2 pm, Tuesday 14 October 2025 at the Hay Services Club at 371 Murray Street, Hay.

“Please go to the Cater & Blumer Facebook page, Instagram page or website to register.

“We strongly encourage affected landowners to attend and learn more about their rights.”

For more information, contact Bobbie Pannowitz on 0417 626 230, by emailing [email protected] , or by visiting www.caterandblumer.com.

Register your attendance HERE