Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) is standing tough on its calls for the development of a vital water resource plan to be shelved until after the drought breaks.
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The NSW Government is pushing ahead with the Namoi Alluvium Water Resource Plan - one of several that are being drafted as part of the Murray Darling Basin Plan - with another round of consultations planned for this month.
The plan dictates who owns what water in the dams, and river systems, and who has access to it.
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Council's water director Bruce Logan said it should be put on hold to learn from the current drought.
"In the midst of the worst drought on record in the North West, TRC adopted a position that the adoption of new water resource plans and associated water sharing plans should be deferred until the end of the drought," Mr Logan said.
"This will allow for fully informed decisions - based on new modelling that includes the latest drought figures for the Namoi/Peel system - which will lead to additional water security and reliability for towns such as Tamworth, Moonbi, Kootingal, Manilla and Barraba in the new plans. Council's position has not changed."
Council has held the position since the initial drafts - of both the water resource plan and water sharing plan - went on public display last year.
The NSW Government announced on Tuesday meetings with stakeholder advisory panels would be held to further discuss the water plans. Meetings will be held in Narrabri and Tamworth on March 30 and 31.
The Peel Valley Water Users Association is one of the stakeholders within the advisory panel and questioned why two meetings were needed.
"There appears to be no valid reason to hold two separate meetings on the subject of the Namoi/Peel Water Resource Plan, and in the absence of any evidence that substantiates the need for two separate meetings, we recommend that one meeting on the subject should be convened," committee member Ildu Monticone said.
NSW Water Minister Melinda Pavey said the plans would not be submitted before the community had voiced their concerns.
"The community has made a huge effort to comment on the draft plans during the public exhibition phase last year. Now I want to go back to the stakeholder advisory panels with an analysis of key community concerns, and make sure these have been adequately considered in the latest draft," Mrs Pavey said.
"It is vital that we close the loop with stakeholders before the water resource plans are submitted to the Commonwealth for assessment and accreditation."
STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS
Murray Lower Darling: Deniliquin - March 18
Murrumbidgee: Griffith - March 19
Barwon Darling: Bourke - March 24
Namoi: Narrabri - March 30
Namoi: Tamworth - March 31
Gwydir: Moree - April 1
Border Rivers: Goondiwindi - April 2
Lachlan: Parkes - April 7
Macquarie: Dubbo - April 8
