Illegal take and non-compliant metering are the major issues faced by the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) as they crack down on water offences.
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In the three months from October to December last year, NRAR inspected 766 properties with 325 compliance offences recorded across NSW.
More than half of the offences were illegal water take and metering breaches (167 instances/51 per cent).
Controlled activities (69 instances/21pc) and unlawful works and dams (57 instances/17pc) were the next most common.
From the 325 compliance offences, there were 34 enforcement actions including seven penalty infringement notices, 19 formal warnings, and eight directions to carry out remedial work and stop work orders.
There are seven active prosecutions still in court.
NRAR director regulatory initiatives, Ian Bernard, said the regulator had more than doubled its compliance inspections across the state.
"Widespread flooding has been very challenging for lots of people and of course we take that into account," he said.
"But the more inspections we do, the more opportunity there is to meet with landholders to help them get into compliance."
An NRAR spokesperson said that while there had been some legitimate barriers to water users being able to source metering equipment, they expected them to have at least a formal agreement or contract with a certified meter installer or duly qualified persons.
"If they can't show they've made a reasonable effort to comply by their deadline, they may receive a fine or legal direction to comply," the spokesperson said.
"The information we have indicates that most of the delays in getting metering equipment have been resolved.
"This increase in supply is evident in the number of water users we are seeing engaging with duly qualified persons (DQPs) and ordering metering equipment ready for installation."
In the past there was a limited number of DQPs to fit compliant meters but NRAR believes that has been rectified.
"The Department of Planning and Environment are working closely with Irrigation Australia and Training Services NSW to increase the number of DQPs available," the spokesperson said.
"There are now more than 190 certified meter installers. This is a big increase from just 30 when the metering rules became law in 2018."
NRAR said some water users had legitimate reasons for not being compliant yet, others just had not acted.
"Reasons include impact from recent flooding and other events outside of the water users control," the spokesperson said.
"Some water users have not acted to install the required metering equipment and we are, in most cases, working with them to become compliant.
"In a small number of cases, we have issued enforcement actions and are monitoring and following up to ensure that compliance is achieved."
