The Water Sharing plans for several rivers in New South Wales are under review, but the state’s Primary Industries Minister assures it is likely that little will be changed.

New South Wales Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson says she has agreed to amend 31 of the state’s plans after receiving reports from the Office of Water and Natural Resources Commissioner.

The Castlereagh River above Binnaway, the Macquarie and Cudgegong Rivers, the Lachlan River and the Mandagery Creek will all have their plans reviewed. Early reports say amendments to the Macquarie-Cudgegong and Lachlan River plans will be minor.

“Both of those particular plans were actually switched off for quite a period of time during the drought, so quite a lot is yet to be tested,” Ms Hodgkinson said.

“So the water users and the New South Wales Office of Water do want to see how those plans run and properly test their rules.”

The Macquarie and Cudgeong river valleys have been deemed so intrinsically linked that they cannot be separated; “Both those valleys are integral to each other and to separate them is simply impractical,” Ms Hodgkinson said, “The Office of Water has also advised me that the Macquarie-Cudgegong is a single system with definite hydrological linkages, so that is not going to be part of this plan.”

An announcement is expected once the review is complete, there has been no official word on how long that might take. The NSW Primary Industries Minister said she understood not everyone would be thrilled with the changes, but reviews are necessary.

“Water Sharing Plans are a continuing work in progress,” she said.

"They are set for a 10 year period, but discussions continue on during that 10 year period... not everyone will be 100 per cent happy with every single Water Sharing Plan. We have to do the best for the majority.”