IRRIGATORS’ rights have been strengthened by recent changes to water licensing laws in NSW.
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Last week NSW Water Minister Kevin Humphries won approval in parliament for amendments to the Water Management Act 2000, which he said make the system more streamlined and flexible.
Cotton Australia policy manager for water Michael Murray said the changes strengthen "the rights of irrigators across the State and removes red tape that hampers investment in agribusiness.”
Under the new laws, supplementary licenses are issued in perpetuity, meaning they cannot be cancelled without compensation to the licence holder.
Mr Humphries told parliament the new laws would increase flexibility for landholders to take advantage of their harvestable rights and streamline the way that supplementary water is made available to users.
Mr Humphries said the amendments create potential for the creation of floodplain harvesting licences in the future, which would also be in perpetuity and subject to compensation.
The changes would “further develop water markets through a new dealing to allow water allocations to be traded for a term of up to 10 years; and streamline licensing and trading processes,” he said.
Water allocations for the south of the state will are significantly impacted.
The changes amend the role of the 'worst drought of record' terminology in allocation calculations.
Essentially, it allows calculations to be set from when water sharing plans commenced.
"This change will ensure the announcement of higher allocations earlier in the cropping season than would otherwise be the case," Mr Murray said.
"This will give cotton growers and irrigators in the south of NSW greater certainty in planning and delivering high-value crops,” Mr Murray said.
