LACHLAN Valley irrigators have launched a public campaign as they call for a rethink of the rules governing their industry through the Water Sharing Plan.
The rules were developed in the early 2000s and a lot has changed since then, including the purchase of large volumes of water for environmental purposes under the Basin Plan, executive officer Mary Ewing said.
Lachlan Valley Water is asking for “a fair share of water for licence holders” as the Department of Primary Industries develops Water Resource Plans for regions under the Murray Darling Basin Plan.
In a series of videos and graphics launched across social media irrigators are starting to tell their story.
The Lachlan River winds its way from Yass nearly 1450km to the Great Cumbung Swamp near Hay.
Fruit, vegetables, cotton, and livestock have long flourished along its banks – with the ABS valuing the region’s gross irrigated agriculture at $190m to $245m per year over the past five years.
But that production is below what it could be, and chair Tom Green says irrigators don’t have the confidence to invest.
Under current arrangements, 75 per cent of water is allocated to the environment, 17 per cent is available to general security licences, five per cent is held on licences purchased for environmental use, two per cent is used by high security licences and one per cent is towns and stock and domestic.
“We want the government to allow changes to the rules, not to increase the extractive share but to improve availability so that irrigators can have the confidence to use their allowed share,” Mr Green said.
“We will invest, we will do the work.”
“Forbes is a fertile farming area with good access to the river,” Jamie Morgan says in the campaign video now online. “The potential is there, it’s just having the certainty of supply that’s needed.”
Information about the Water Resource Plans is available online at http://www.water.nsw.gov.au/
The website states the NSW Government has always advocated to balance economic, environmental and socio-economic concerns in the Basin Plan.
In developing the plans, they are seeking feedback through stakeholder advisory panels and public comment.
