Cotton grower to pay for overpumping 584.8ML

A cotton grower has agreed to pay $15,000 plus $10,000 in costs for overpumping the equivalent of 234 Olympic swimming pools of groundwater.

Pian Jabiru allegedly pumped 584.8ML of water in excess of extraction limits from 2018 to 2020.

A cotton grower in northwest NSW has agreed to pay $15,000 plus $10,000 in costs for overpumping the equivalent of 234 Olympic swimming pools of groundwater.

Pian Jabiru Pty Ltd, led by company director Robin Leigh Findley, allegedly pumped

584.8ML of water in excess of its extraction limits from four separate bores over a period of two years from 2018 to 2020.

The company farms cotton, wheat, barley and corn on the 1239-hectare property Pian Plain near Wee Waa.

Mr Findley has farmed in northwest NSW for more than 30 years.

In 2019, he bought the 28,442ha property Etta Plains in north central Queensland with his son Lucas Findley for $25m.

As part of an enforceable undertaking Pian Jabiru signed with the Natural Resources Access Regulator this month, the company agreed to pay $15,000 to the Narrabri Fish Farm to restock the Namoi River with fingerling fish.

The company will also pay $10,000 to NRAR to cover investigation costs, forfeit 584.8ML from its water balance for 2021-22 (36 per cent of its entitlement), and install telemetric metering on its pumps within six months,

Natural Resources Access Regulator director of water regulation west Graeme White said the company’s overextraction of water was detected through a desktop audit.

“There was a (non-telemetric) meter on the bore, and the meter had been read. We then compared that with the licence conditions,” Mr White said.

According to the company’s licence, the combined volume of water it extracted in any water year from all its bores must not exceed 1600 megalitres.

“Bore extraction limits are important because these (groundwater) systems are quite ancient, and it does take a long time for them to replenish,” Mr White said.

As part of the enforceable undertaking, Pian Jabiru acknowledged the seriousness of the harm it caused to the environment and community.

The Weekly Times attempted to contact Pian Jabiru but was unsuccessful.