Category: Media Releases

MEDIA RELEASE

Tuesday 2 February 2021

The NSW Government must show they are serious about managing the state’s precious water
resources by providing open public access to all water licence and water trading information.
The Inland Rivers Network submission to the public consultation that closed on 1 February
emphasised the need for a free public single source Water Register.
Like Western Australia, the NSW Water Register should include all details of water
entitlements; water allocations; meter readings; real time water account balance and all trading
activities, as well as any convictions from water theft.
The exposure of seriously poor water management by the ABC Four Corners program
‘Pumped’ in 2017, resulted in recommendations from the independent Matthews Report to
improve transparency around water ownership and trading.
“Public confidence in the State government’s approach to transparency has not improved with
the latest approach out for comment,” said Bev Smiles, President.
‘The proposal is basically business as usual with information spread across numerous
websites and a huge cost to gain access the Water Access Licence information.’
‘If other states can provide free public information from a single source, we have to ask what
is NSW hiding?’
‘The only way to avoid ongoing allegations of water theft and corruption is to be upfront about
who owns what, what they are extracting or trading and how the Government is regulating the
water industry and market,’ said Mel Gray, Healthy Rivers Dubbo
‘This Government has been sprung time after time favouring their big corporate mates at the
expense of everyone else. If they want us to trust them, this is their opportunity to come clean.’

Inland Rivers Network submission is available at:
https://inlandriversnetwork.org/campaigns/submissions/ 
More information at: https://www.industry.nsw.gov.au/water/licensing-trade/trade/have-yoursay
Contact: Bev Smiles 0428 817 282
Mel Gray 0431 471 310

210202 No improvement in transparency for water ownership & trading

 

Inland Rivers Network has slammed the NSW Government initial approach to licencing the
previously illegal capture of flood flows into private farm dams in north-west NSW. The
proposal is to grant a new, free, tradable property right to irrigators, with almost unlimited
permission to capture flood water.
A submission to the proposed licencing and management of flood water capture (known as
Floodplain Harvesting) in the NSW Border Rivers valley has highlighted ongoing favouritism
to the irrigation industry at the expense of river health and downstream communities in a highly
variable river system.
‘The Darling River gets all its water from its tributaries, and the Border Rivers catchment is a
major source,’ said Brian Stevens, Secretary of Inland Rivers Network.
‘The proposed approach of capturing flood flows for private gain in the Border Rivers will rob
water from downstream communities, destroy important cultural heritage values, and
effectively kill native fish and the river communities all the way to Menindee Lakes.’
‘Proposed rules to grant an initial 500% of new licence allocations and to allow 500% carryover
will result in capture of all small and medium sized floods and severely reduce the downstream
benefits of large floods.’
The fact that NSW Government water agencies are making an attempt to regulate Floodplain
Harvesting should be congratulated but this particular approach mirrors the harsh criticism
handed down by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on Friday 27
November.
‘ICAC highlighted the undue focus on irrigators’ interests within water agencies and the lack
of transparency, balance and fairness in consultation processes,’
‘This is exactly what has happened with the assessment of volumes and rules for new
Floodplain Harvesting licences – windfall private property rights for an elite set of irrigators.’
‘New proposed rules will mean business as usual with limited change to flood access and new
exemptions for capture of rainfall runoff. Our northern inland rivers will continue to suffer.’
Inland Rivers Network maintains that the health of the Border and Darling Rivers will not
improve with the proposed regulation of Floodplain Harvesting in the Border Rivers. This is
the first cab off the rank with rules for the other four catchments, Gwydir, Namoi, Macquarie
and Barwon-Darling due out early next year.
Contact: Brian Stevens 0429 903 082
Jonathan Howard 0422 266 023

Media release

12 May 2020

No drought-proofing from new dams

National Party plans to build new dams and expand others will enrich irrigators, degrade river ecosystems and will not protect communities from climate change and drought unless the government changes Water Sharing Plans to reflect our drying climate, environment groups have warned.

“The projects the Nationals outlined today will not provide more water security and drought-proof communities,” Nature Conservation Council CEO Chris Gambian said.

“Bigger dams will just mean more water for irrigation and less for the river and other users.”

Deputy Premier John Barilaro and Water Minister Melinda Pavey announced this week that $245m would be spent building the business case for three dam projects:

•        raising Wyangala Dam on the Lachlan River
•        building the Dungowan Dam on the Peel River
•        building a dam on the Mole River near Tenterfield

The Nationals claim the dams will store water that can sustain communities during dry spells,^[1] but water allocations from dams in these river systems will not be based on the most recent drought.^[2]

“Time and again, the Nationals have shown their water policy is to provide maximum water to the irrigation industry,” Mr Gambian said.

“This is reflected in the new Water Sharing Plans, due to commence on 1 July, 2020. Bigger dams will mean more water taken from our river systems, not more water stored for drought protection.”

Inland Rivers Network President Bev Smiles said: “The new Water Sharing Plans do not use the most recent drought of record and were bound to over-estimate the volume of water available for irrigation.

“For the Lachlan River, the lowest inflows on record are based on those before July 2004. The Millenium Drought and the current more severe drought are being ignored.”

This issue was confirmed by Water Minister Pavey in Parliament last November where she said:

“To include a rule that automatically requires the water supply system to adjust to new record drought would potentially result in significant quantities of water being locked away from productive use.” ^[3]

 

“The new Water Sharing Plans will cause the same problems to arise with each new drought,” Ms Smiles said.

“In 2016, all NSW dams were full. By the end of 2018 they were empty because all the water had been handed out, not stored for drought protection.

“This is what will happen again with these new projects if we don’t change the Water Sharing Plans to reflect the scarcity of water in our drying climate.

“The Water Sharing Plans need to be changed so the most recent drought is considered when making annual water allocations.

“We don’t need more, bigger dams. We need water sharing rules that provide water security for severe drought conditions.”

MEDIA CONTACT: James Tremain | 0419 272 254

 BACKGROUND TO WATER SHARING PLAN RULES

 Wyangala Dam

Water Sharing Plan for the Lachlan Regulated River Water Source 2020

Part 10 System Operation Requirements

Division 4 General System Operations Rules

58 Maintenance of water supply

(1) In this clause, the period of lowest accumulated inflows to the water source is identified by flow information held by the Department prior to 1 July 2004.

(2) The operator must operate the water supply system in such a way that water would be able to be supplied during a repeat of the period of lowest accumulated inflows to the water source,

 Dungowan Dam

Water Sharing Plan for the Peel Regulated River Water Source 2020

Part 10 System Operation Requirements

Division 2 General System Operations Rules

52 Maintenance of water supply

(1) In this clause, the period of lowest accumulated inflows to the water source is identified by flow information held by the Department prior to 1 July 2010.

(2) The operator must operate the water supply system in such a way that water would be able to be supplied during a repeat of the period of lowest accumulated inflows to the water source

Mole River Dam

Water Sharing Plan for the NSW Border Rivers Regulated River Water Source 2020

Part 10 System Operation Requirements

Division 3 General System Operations Rules

57 Maintenance of water supply

(1) In this clause, the period of lowest accumulated inflows to the water source is identified by flow information held by the Department prior to 1 July 2009.

(2) The operator must operate the water supply system in such a way that water would be able to be supplied during a repeat of the period of lowest accumulated inflows to the water source

^[1] Media Release Deputy Premier and Water Minister, 10 May 2020, STAGE 1 BEGINS ON STATE SIGNIFICANT DAMS

^[2] See attached briefer: Water Sharing Plan rules are not based on the most recent lowest inflows on record

^[3] https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Hansard/Pages/HansardFull.aspx#/DateDisplay/HANSARD-1820781676-80754/HANSARD-1820781676-80801

 

 

Conservation groups are outraged at the NSW Government’s decision to allow big irrigators to take millions of litres of flood water from the Barwon-Darling river system.

The government on Monday (February 10) temporarily overturned a restriction it placed on the capture of floodwaters just three days before on Friday (February 7).

The move could divert millions of litres of water from towns and the environment into the storages of large irrigators in the north of the basin.

“After such a prolonged drought, the priority for these vital first flows through the Barwon-Darling system must be to replenish town water supplies and revive fish stock and river ecosystems,”

Nature Conservation Council CEO Chris Gambian said. “Over-extraction by big irrigators, aided and abetted by the NSW Government, has made the impact of this drought much worse than it should have been. The drought is not yet over, and the government is at it again.

“The NSW Government’s management of the recent flows has been chaotic and poorly communicated, with three contradictory directions issued over the past week.

“On Friday, it simultaneously imposed a restriction on floodplain harvesting in the northern basin while also authorising landholders use of illegal levies and dams to capture and store overland flows. Then on Monday it announced a three-day free-for-all allowing irrigators to take as much water from the floodplain as they can pump.

“Once again the government appears to be pandering to the interests of big irrigators ahead of communities and the environment.”

Inland Rivers Network spokesperson Bev Smiles said: “These flows are the first ray of hope for the Darling River for years and should be allowed to flow through the system to Menindee Lakes and the Lower Darling.

“They are an important opportunity to reverse the extreme stress suffered by the Darling River and its dependent communities and wildlife.

“Now the government has authorised irrigators to harvest the best part of the flows in Namoi, Gwydir and Barwon rivers. The ad hoc approach to water management in western NSW has caused significant trauma to people, native fish and the riverine environment along the Darling River.

“This opportunity to revive the river system has been squandered at the behest of the powerful upstream irrigation lobby.”

MEDIA CONTACT: James Tremain, 0419 272 254

200212-MR – NSW Government opens the floodgates for irrigators to profit

Media Release

Sunday 13 October 2019

NSW ignores responsibilities for wetlands, native fish and western communities. Inland Rivers Network has major concerns that the NSW Government is turning its back on native fish, waterbirds, wetlands and downstream communities by proposing new large dams with no impact assessment.

191013 NSW to ignore dam impacts

191013 NSW to ignore dam impacts

The NSW and Federal governments must accept responsibility for their role in the catastrophic fish kills on the Darling River in western NSW this month.

190110-mr ncc & irn – fish killed by poor river management

NSW Nature Conservation Council and the Inland Rivers Network welcome NSW Labor’s plan for a special commission of inquiry into management of the Darling River system, especially if it results in new measures to ensure environmental water flows are protected.

190121-mr – inquiry welcome but we simply need more h2o for nature to work

There is no Plan B: NSW must stay the course and save the Murray-Darling Basin Plan

Premier Gladys Berejiklian should take the water portfolio from the Nationals and recommit to implementing the Murray-Darling Basin Plan on time and in full.

“The NSW Nationals have proven time and again they are unable to manage water for NSW,” Nature Conservation Council CEO Kate Smolski said. 

“By their reckless actions and mismanagement, as revealed by ABC’s Four Corners, the Nationals are jeopardising the ecological health of our river systems, the livelihoods of river communities, and decades of complex planning and negotiation.

180215 – Murray Darling has no plan B