Proposed water sharing in our area

Message from RSWUA President

Hi All,

here's a little homework for you all. This has come from one of our members who has been keeping tabs on this issue.
 
We need as many submissions as possible.I will do one from the association.
 
cheers
Jolieske

Subject: Proposed water sharing in our area.
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2011 17:59:48 +1100

Goday Jolieske,

You may have seen an email from me regarding the above some time ago.
I have now had a look at various information, which are all on the NSW Office of Water Website [link]
The deadline for a submission is end of January 2011.
The final plan is expected to come into law later this year.
Anyone can make a submission, and I would encourage as many as possible to do so.
It can be done online.

Should it become law as proposed at present, Centennial will have no problem whatsoever to obtain a licence, regardless of opposition.

We are in the Sydney Basin MDB Porous Rock Groundwater Source.
The boundaries of this basin seem to have extended to cover a total of 160,685 ha.
Based on the proposal the recharge, water that percolates into the aquifer is 70,274 ML/year
The environment is getting 30 %
The maximum extraction is getting 70 % or a total of 45,960 ML/year
At present there are 393 Basic Land owner right licence with a volume of 465 ML/year
There are also 29 larger Ground water licences with a volume of 1,538 ML/year
This leaves Unassigned water of 43,957 ML/year, which can be used for future extraction, as the present embargo will be lifted.
A massive expansion in new licences could be in the making, and it would all be as per the law.

In other words easy picking for Centennial

Suggestions to put in your submission would be to ask for this area to be considered a special case, and the boundaries to be maintained as it was before.
Further, ask that the Environment will get 95%, not 30% as in the draft, as otherwise all creeks, and springs would dry up at some point of time.
 also ask for the embargo to be put back in place in this area.

Also the question could be asked why food producing farmers further down the system are being asked to give up licences and yet there is the possiblity of issuing new licenses up stream. It does not make sense

Posted for President