Water wars: Farmers accuse government of ‘hoarding’ water
FARMERS are demanding the State government hand over thousands of megalitres litres of water they claim is being “hoarded” instead of being used to produce desperately needed feed.
NSW
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THOUSANDS of megalitres of water that could be used to grow feed for drought-stricken animals is being “hoarded” in dams by the state government, farmers claim.
With the price of water on the private market doubling from $200 to $400 a megalitre in a month and conditions only expected to get worse, they want the government to give back the water they claim is rightfully theirs.
Since 2002, farmers who have bought irrigation licences from the state have voluntarily given up 5 to 10 per cent of their allocation. The system is designed to provide farmers with a regular water supply while reserving enough to keep river systems healthy.
But with the state gripped in drought, the farmers say hundreds of thousands of megalitres held in dams through voluntary contributions should be released.
Griffith farmer Helen Dalton, who is also a Shooters Party member, said the contributions had not been reviewed in the past 16 years and the Office of Environment and Heritage is holding 405,000 megalitres across dams in the Murray and Murrumbidgee valleys.
Under the state water-sharing scheme, water is split between farmers, the environment and government authorities. Irrigation farmers are required to buy water licences with some of their allocation then set aside for the environment.
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Whether each farmer gets their full allocation is decided in July at the start of the growing season, with the actual amount received dependent on seasonal conditions.
Mrs Dalton, who last received her full allocation during the floods of 2016, said fodder such as clover and lucerne could be watered and cut for hay in time to feed stock by November. Reallocating the water would also bring down the market price, allowing other farmers to supplement their supplies.
“The voluntary contributions were not really voluntary,” Mrs Dalton said.
“It was water taken from us and we should be able to get it back.
“People are screaming for help. If this drought was a bushfire, we would be in the category of catastrophic. If we don’t get enough water to pull the crops through, we are going to be in big trouble.”
Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party MP Robert Brown, who raised the issue in Parliament last week, said the water could produce about 1,500,000 tonnes of oaten hay.
“There is water being held back for the environment, but they are also holding back other water that could be allocated to farmers with immediate results,” he said.
A spokesman for Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton said the department did not have discretion to reallocate or loan stored water.