Abstract: Water NSW is the primary bulk water supplier in New South Wales, Australia, managing water resources through the operation of over 300 dams, weirs and regulators. In the early 2000’s, dam safety upgrade works were identified at five (5) large dams owned by Water NSW’s to bring them in line with contemporary best practice. The dam safety upgrade works triggered the requirement for Water NSW to construct fishways at the dams under the NSW Fisheries Management Act 1994. Following the development of concept designs and costings for Keepit Dam, Water NSW estimated in 2009 that high level fishways at the five dams would approximate $285 M, a figure viewed as cost prohibitive to the State government and irrigators who had a 50:50 cost share arrangement. Fisheries NSW subsequently worked collaboratively with Water NSW to develop the Dam Safety Upgrade Fishway Offsets Program, whereby fishways would be installed at thirteen (13) high priority weirs located downstream of the original dam compliance sites in order to achieve a greater ecological benefit at a significantly reduced cost of $45 M. Despite the collaborative nature of the agreement, by 2015 only one fishway has been constructed and another weir removed, with the remaining Fishway Offsets Program being placed on indefinite hold due primarily to the doubling of fishway construction costs and a change in political sentiment. This presentation (1) details lessons learned regarding management and political considerations that ultimately resulted in program deferment, (2) highlights the ecological and economic opportunities offered by fishway offsets, (3) summarizes guiding principles for the assessment and selection of potential fishway offset sites, and (4) proposes a decision-making framework for future fishway offset proposals.