Labor government would investigate ‘reasonable-use’ limit on dams

A RE-ELECTED Labor Government will investigate placing “reasonable-use limits” on farm dams, early in next year.

A RE-ELECTED Labor Government will investigate placing “reasonable-use limits” on farm dams, early in next year.

To be effective, the controversial proposal would have to limit landholders’ ability to build and use stock and domestic dams.

The proposal first emerged as part of Victorian Water Minister Lisa Neville’s Water for Victoria plan in 2016, but was never taken further.

It was not until Spring Hill beef producer Scott Selle contacted Ms Neville’s office to ask what was going on, that a Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning bureaucrat told him last month an investigation would be launched in the New Year.

In her reply to Mr Selle’s query, DELWP Water Resource Strategy executive director Grace Mitchell said: “we are committed to recording and reporting on all emerging, significant uses of water, including investigating a reasonable-use limit for domestic and stock rights under section 8 of the (Water) Act”.

“We will be consulting stakeholders in early 2019 about the risk domestic and stock use poses to third parties and the environment.”

“Through this consultation we aim to establish whether a limit is the most effective method to manage growth of domestic and stock water use. And if it is, what would be a reasonable limit and how it could be enforced.”

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Coliban Water has already flagged limiting upper catchment stock and domestic water use and dam developments in its integrated catchment management plan.

One of the Coliban plan’s four goals is that “the maximum future capacity of all dams on private land should not exceed 2017 capacity”.

“At this stage the goal is aspirational, and without additional legislative changes and associated measures it will not be achieved. While Coliban Water and the North Central CMA (Catchment Management Authority) will strongly encourage such changes, this goal is not feasible … without further investigation.”

Mr Selle said the Andrews Government and Labor Party should have made it clear months ago what their intentions were for the rights of landholders to build and use stock and domestic dams.

“It seems they’ve kicked the can down the road until after the election, when people have every right to know what the Government’s intentions are,” Mr Selle said.

The issue of restricting farm dam developments is a sensitive subject given the potential conflict between upper catchment landholders’ demanding the right to build dams versus downstream users and irrigators calling for restrictions on further development.

Ms Neville said Labor was committed to reviewing the impact of dams, “but I’m ruling out placing any retrospective limits on existing farm dams”.

“As I’ve done with Victoria’s position on the Murray Darling Basin Plan, farmers will be fully consulted and their interests and that of our communities will be my main concern.”

Victorian Farmers Federation water council chairman Richard Anderson said it was potentially a divisive issue, but said the conversation had to be had.

Mr Anderson said whoever was elected on Saturday had to make sure they engaged in effective consultation.