NSW small water users face thousands in costs to upgrade water meters

Small water users in five NSW catchments are facing thousands of dollars in costs to comply with water metering rules.

Small water user John Schultz on his property at Luskintyre, NSW, during a drought. Picture: Rhonda Keen

Small water users in five NSW catchments say they may struggle to get through future droughts under new water rules that require them to install thousands of dollars worth of water metering equipment.

Cattle producer John Schultz from Luskintyre, west of Newcastle in NSW, said under the rules, which have applied to him since December 1 last year, he was required to install a new meter on his irrigation pump that would cost between $8000 and $15,000.

He said the cost was prohibitive for a small business like his with a 15 megalitre water entitlement.

“That (money) has got to come out of your farm budget somewhere. So you won’t be buying feed or you won’t be replacing equipment. We won’t be putting that fencing to protect trees,” he said.

Mr Schultz said he may be able to avoid using his pump this year due to high rainfall, but he said not being able to use it during a drought would put him in a difficult position.

“We’re not making hay to sell to racehorse producers. It’s self sufficiency to feed your cattle in the winter, or have a bit in reserve in case it gets dry,” he said.

The changes would also affect the value of his property if he decided to sell, he said.

Under Water Sharing Plans in five areas, small water users with pump sites under 100mm must install what the NSW Irrigator’s Council refers to as “gold-standard” AS4747-compliant meters on their pumps.

The rules apply to water users in the Lachlan Regulated River Water Source, the Murrumbidgee Regulated River Water Source, the Hunter Regulated River Water Source, the Richmond River Area Unregulated, Regulated and Alluvial Water Sources, and the New South Wales Murray and Lower Darling Regulated Rivers Water Sources.

Lachlan Valley water chairman Tom Green said the decision for the requirement to apply to five water catchments and not other areas was “quite bizarre”.

“I suspect even the department wouldn’t know the answer to that question,” he said.

Mr Green said the extra cost was an unfair burden on smaller scale farmers, up to 100 of whom could be affected in the Lachlan Valley.

“When you add the cost of this extra level of compliance, smaller irrigators may decide to not irrigate and to just trade their water instead.”

“The department, by default, is forcing smaller irrigators out.”

Lachlan Valley Water chairman Tom Green says the new rules are “forcing smaller irrigators out”. Picture: Supplied

A spokesperson for the Department of Planning and Environment said in a statement that requirements for metering were written into the Lachlan, Murrumbidgee, Hunter, Richmond and Murray and Lower Darling Water Sharing plans before the government established the NSW Non-Urban Metering Policy.

Prior to the government establishing its metering policy.

The spokesperson said to ensure consistency of rules for small water users, the government had granted a deadline extension for works in these water sharing plans and introduced a temporary statewide exemption from the metering rules for small, low-risk licensed domestic and stock water users.

NSW Irrigators Council chief executive Claire Miller said the exemption, issued on March 16 last year, only provided a 12-month reprieve for small water users who hold other licence types such as general security.

She said the conditions placed an “unnecessary and burdensome cost” on small water users, which were inconsistent with the a stated government policy objective to ensure “undue costs on smaller water users are minimised”.