A new vision updating coastal water harvest rights in NSW is under discussion until April 18. At its core is a government proposal to increase harvestable rights on farm dams.
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At the moment landholders on first and second order streams can harvest 10 per cent of the run-off. NSW Water is proposing dams be allowed on third order streams and has modeled what would happen if 50pc were taken.
NSW Farmers Association has suggested a 40pc take would service its members while subgroups in the Richmond and Wilsons river catchments would be content with 30pc, or three times the amount now allowed.
Russ Glover is a blueberry grower near Woolgoolga and will benefit from any increase in harvesting rights. As a water engineer, previously working with local government to ensure the viability of hydrology, he understands the concept of give and take more than most.
"Allocation requires a delicate balance," he says.
However, the fact remains that as a commercial grower he cannot buy more water in a very tight market. "At the moment I can take 5.7ml but I need more than 10ml. Meanwhile my dam is overflowing," he said.
"The issue is population. I was at Coffs Harbour high school in the late 1960s when there were 7000 people. Now there are 84,000. When I came home from university in 1972 to Woolgoolga there were 600 people now there are 10,000. People say agriculture is to blame but I say it's concrete surfaces and people who use water."
Further north on the Richmond River floodplain, chairman of the combined water users group Chris Magner also notes the way easy draining surfaces affect run-off and points to the number of laser-levelled paddocks - his own included - that disappear rainwater like never before.
"As a result it is imperative to capture more water in the landscape and if that means putting them on third order streams then that can be a good thing."
Alstonville Plateau macadamia grower Andrew Leslie said the need for increased water storage on farm was made clear during 2019 when plantations lost significant yield because they didn't have enough stored water.
For more information go to the department's web site.
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