The Ricegrowers’ Association warns supplementary events are likely most at risk, with the draft sharing plan giving more discretion on whether to allow irrigator access or reserve uncontrolled flows to deliver environmental objectives detailed in the draft NSW Murray Long-Term Water Plan.
The Long-Term Water Plan proposes to coordinate held and planned environmental water across the southern Basin to create more overbank events, including flows over the South Australian border consistent with maximum Murray-Darling Basin Plan targets.
‘‘Planned environmental water has not been used in this way in the past,’’ warns RGA president Rob Massina.
‘‘In short, the 2020 New South Wales Murray Water Sharing Plan seeks to co-opt planned environmental water to deliver increased flow rates consistent with a 3200 gigalitre Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
‘‘The only way we see this can be done is by reducing irrigator access to supplementary events.”
Mr Massina said communities were repeatedly reassured the draft 2020 Water Sharing Plan only rolled over the 2016 Plan with no material changes affecting irrigators’ legal rights to water.
‘‘But in fact the draft 2020 water sharing plan goes beyond the 2016 plan,’’ Mr Massina said.
‘‘Instead of simply managing planned environmental water to achieve environmental objectives, the 2020 plan goes one step further to increase the portion of natural flows, through the reduction of irrigators’ entitlements.
‘‘Overall, the plan appears to give water managers more discretionary control to boost planned environmental water to the detriment of irrigators.
‘‘Any changes to the plan that will impact yield and the value of irrigator’s water entitlements is non-negotiable.
‘‘This is unacceptable, and we are calling on the New South Wales Government in our submission to reinstate the relevant clauses from the 2016 water sharing plan.”
NSW Member for Murray Helen Dalton said the NSW Government has a capacity to make a change, outside of the water sharing plans, to make our regions more productive.
The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers local member said it could be done ‘‘at the stroke of the pen’’, if only the government was willing.
‘‘One way the government could do this is through the return of the 10 per cent of general security allocation taken from farmers in 1998,’’ she said.
‘‘The other would be for the conveyance water and losses account to be netted off against the environment bucket, instead of being netted against irrigation.
‘‘That could bring us up to 30 per cent of general security water instantly.
‘‘And then if the Murray Darling Basin Authority was to give us salt dilution flows, it would jump to 40 per cent.’’
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