This represents the environmental water that is held as part of a licensed volumetric entitlement for environmental use. Both the NSW and Commonwealth governments have acquired water licences for environmental purposes in regulated, unregulated and groundwater sources.

These licences are held within the same licence categories as all other water access licences and are subject to the same operating rules.

They are subject to:

• available water determinations (AWD) for their share of the entitlement to be added to accounts.
• carryover rules, hence the forfeiting of unused water that cannot be carried over.
• provide water orders prior to use.

These licences are used to provide environmental benefit and outcomes to the catchment by either providing water to, or supplementing water requirements of, specific environmental events or incidents. On occasion the environmental benefit is achieved by trading the water as opposed to ordering and recording the subsequent usage against the licence.