This map was created by the Department of Primary Industries (Office of Water) in 2013 to identify areas in NSW with a reliable surface water supply. Land with reliable surface water was defined as areas:

• buffering all regulated rivers and creeks by 150 metres,
• buffering unregulated rivers and creeks with a 5th stream order or higher, by 150 metres,
• buffering 3rd and 4th stream order unregulated rivers and creeks, by 150 metres

Reliable surface water mapping along with two other datasets (rainfall of 350mm for more per annum - 9 out of 10 years and highly productive groundwater) are used to identify land with access to a reliable water supply, forming part of the regional and site level assessment classification of Biophysical Strategic Agricultural Land (BSAL).

Under the Mining SEPP, all State Significant Development applications require a Site Verification Certificate to determine if their site contains any BSAL and therefore requiring further assessment from the Mining and Petroleum Gateway Panel. This process is managed by Planning and Assessment, Department of Planning, Industry and Environment and are custodian of the dataset.

A pdf map and GIS shapefile of this dataset is accessible from the resources section of the metadata.