Irrigators facing millions in fines for water offences

Five irrigators are facing massive penalties for water offences, with one former vineyard operator alone facing $4.4 million in fines.

Former vineyard operator David Alan Littore has been charged with pumping 13,000ML of water illegally at a property in Wentworth, NSW. Picture: Toby Zerna

A Victorian man is facing millions in fines for water theft that occurred over four years on a NSW vineyard.

Court documents obtained by The Weekly Times show David Alan Littore, from Mildura, is facing penalties up to $4.4 million for allegedly illegally pumping 13,000 megalitres of water — enough to fill 5200 Olympic swimming pools — from the Darling River between 2011 and 2015.

If proven, the total volume of water taken illegally would be the largest ever prosecuted by the state’s water regulator.

The alleged water theft took place at the company’s enormous 739ha vineyard ‘Arlington’, near Wentworth in south west NSW — a farm later sold to grape producer Duxton Vineyards in 2016.

The case was reported to the NSW water regulator by a member of the public in 2021.

Summons papers show the alleged over-pumping was detected by a WaterNSW employee in 2019, but a spokesperson for the NSW Natural Resources Access Regulator said the matter did not come to NRAR’s attention until it was reported to the agency by a member of the public on 23 September 2021.

“The investigation began following a report from a member of the public toward the end of 2021 and has been very complex and complicated, requiring painstaking work by our staff,” the spokesperson said.

In filings to the Land and Environment Court, NRAR has alleged Mr Littore knowingly pumped more water than he was allowed under the terms of his water allocation licence.

The charges are the latest in a series of court battles Mr Littore has faced since his company, Littore Group, was liquidated seven years ago.

Littore Group was one of Australia’s largest independent winemakers when receivers were appointed in 2015 to sell off the company’s assets due to unpaid debts totalling more than $120 million.

Five irrigators are currently facing charges in the NSW Land and Environment Court for water offences. Photo by Salty Dingo

The Littore case is not the only one NRAR is pursuing through the Land and Environment Court.

The agency is also prosecuting Griffith man Dean Troy Salvestro for five offences related to allegedly illegally pumping water from a bore between 2017 and 2020. He faces maximum penalties of between $247,500 and $500,500 for each offence, with a judgment due to be delivered this year.

Irrigators Luke and Kenneth Kimber are facing prosecution for allegedly pumping water from the Murrumbidgee River during a period of intense drought.

Charges against the duo state they breached the conditions of their water licence 16 times in 34 days, pumping 107 ML from the river when river levels were too low for pumping. The pair face fines of $500,500.

And NSW man Timothy Mitchell Comminsis also in court facing charges of extracting water from a bore above his allocated limit from 2017 to 2019. He faces a maximum penalty of $247,500.