The Natural Resources Access Regulator issued 44 fines from September to February in NSW, up from 26 in the previous spring-summer period.
In one case, a public tip-off revealed that a landholder in the state's Gunnedah region had diverted water from a creek into a dam in 2020.
The independent regulator issued an order to restore the original course of the stream, which was particularly important for a downstream koala habitat.
The regulator monitored the work and the watercourse was restored at the end of 2024.
Releasing compliance data was an important part of the regulator's commitment to transparency, compliance investigations manager Tim O'Connell said.
"This gives confidence to the public that water is being managed effectively, and action will be taken when rules are broken," he said.
"When we decide how to respond to breaches of the law, we focus our efforts and resources on those that pose the greatest risk of harm to communities, the environment or other water users." 
Of the 14 water-sharing plan regions in NSW, the North and Far North Coast had the highest number of penalty notices (16).
The Namoi region had the most enforcement actions (50) including fines, directions and stop-work orders, formal warnings and official cautions.
Across all regions, the most common offence types were unlawful water take, non-compliant metering or failing to comply with approval conditions.
The number of inspections increased by two-thirds compared to the same period last year (171 to 285).
"The number of breaches is small compared to the 39,000 licences monitored by NRAR, but that said, even small breaches matter because together they can add up to a serious widespread problem," Mr O'Connell said.
"A lot of people are already doing the right thing, and we are encouraged by that."
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