The past year has been particularly tumultuous in the water space with the Murray-Darling Basin plan subject to considerable public scrutiny.
In November 2017 the Ken Matthews report was released, which outlined a sizable series of recommendations, and the NSW Government responded with the release of their ‘Water Reform Action Plan’ in March this year. We are welcoming an increased focus on compliance and water metering – no-one wins when water is not properly accounted for.
It is widely held among stakeholders that elements of water management needed to change, however other elements of the government’s draft plan and the exposure bill which accompanied it, have been viewed by many as somewhat of a knee-jerk reaction.
The Water Management Amendment Bill 2018 was also introduced last week. We have concerns about an amendment to expand the scope of the Section 324 powers in the Water Management Act 2000. Section 324 allows the minister to temporarily suspend water sharing plans on specific grounds for example to cope with a water shortage or threat to public health or safety.
However, the proposed amendments will open that up to ‘environmental need’ as well. Another concerning amendment removes crown liability if riparian landholders experience damage or loss as a result of the release of environmental water. A farmer’s livelihood can be severely affected by the mismanagement of water and the Government needs to be held to account for its decisions.
The Government knows that releasing environmental water can have riparian landholder impacts and they are currently liable for damage that water causes if it is an out of bank flow.
The Department have stated that they will develop a framework to minimise impacts on landholders. Government should not try and absolve themselves of the responsibility; a ‘framework’ will not suffice if Government have no fear of recourse.