Crackdown on NSW farms illegally water pumping during floods
NSW will measure every drop of flood water harvested by farmers in real time to crack down on wrongdoers under a massive transparency boost the government now wants other states in the Murray Darling Basin to adopt.
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NSW will measure every drop of flood water harvested by farmers in real time to crack down on wrongdoers under a massive transparency boost the government now wants other states in the Murray Darling Basin to adopt.
Farmers across NSW will be required to install hi-tech sensors in their water storage that then collects pumping data and pings the information straight to the State Government every few minutes.
Major irrigators in the state’s north will be required to attach the tamper-proof meters to their water pumps by December, with every farmer across NSW expected to have the technology installed and certified by July 1 next year.
A 175-strong team at the Natural Resources Access Regulator will monitor the data and move swiftly to investigate and penalise any illegal water pumping during floods.
NSW Water Minister Melinda Pavey said the state’s farmers had suffered “intense public criticism” for capturing and diverting flood waters in the past.
But Ms Pavey said the new system would put an end to those concerns. “NSW is recovering from the worst drought in its recorded history and our communities have bent over backwards to return water to the environment,” she said.
“The lingering drought and concerns over fish deaths have all highlighted the need for a rigorous and accurate measurement policy for NSW.
“This is the last form of water take to be regulated in NSW and the development of a measurement policy is a historic turning point for our water management system.”
Ms Pavey said the NSW reforms were a first for Australia, and should now be rolled out in South Australia, Queensland and Victoria.
“This policy should provide a framework for other states to align with the same standards in management, compliance and transparency,” she said.
“No longer should NSW communities be held to one standard and other basin states to another.”
Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association executive officer Zara Lowein said the real-time data collection was an important factor in giving communities confidence water was being taken fairly.
Ms Lowein said, along with measurement data, a strong compliance regimen where wrongdoers were penalised was important. “Mandatory reporting of (water) take and things like satellite monitoring all bring together a much better picture of the forms of water use in NSW,” she said,