Australian Capital Territory
Water Resources Environmental Flow Guidelines 2005 (No 1)
Disallowable instrument DI2006—13
made under the
Water Resources Act 2005, s 9 (Guidelines – Minister’s powers) 

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

The Water Resources Act 1998 requires the Environment Management Authority (the
Authority) to prepare draft Environmental Flow Guidelines (the Guidelines) and
consult with the community on their content prior to submission of the Guidelines to
the Minister for approval. The purpose of the Guidelines is to ascertain the flow necessary to maintain aquatic ecosystems.

The Guidelines were prepared by the Authority and released for public comment on
13 May 2005. Technical and stakeholder meetings were conducted from November 2004 to March 2005. A total of 14 written comments were received. The
Guidelines have been amended to incorporate comments received where possible.