SDLs are how much water, on average, can be used in the basin by towns, communities, industries and farmers. Basin states are required to keep within the basin plan limits in applying their water management frameworks.
NSW reported water use above the allowable limits in three areas, including Barwon-Darling surface water, and the Upper Macquarie Alluvium and Lower Murrumbidgee Deep groundwater areas.
“These findings don’t mean there have been individual compliance issues or breaches in water use — this is about water planning and use at a catchment level,” Murray-Darling Basin Authority's Basin Plan Regulation executive director Tim Goodes said.
For the two groundwater catchments, the MDBA found NSW’s reported reason for the exceedances to be valid. NSW has already applied a restriction on water take in one of these areas in 2020-21 and is talking to communities about how to apply these in future, if needed.
The MDBA found in the Barwon-Darling, NSW has not been operating fully in accordance with its bilateral agreement in which it stated it would adhere to its draft water resource plan for the Barwon-Darling.
“NSW has not fully implemented its ‘rules for take’ outlined in their draft water resource plan which includes assessing compliance with their state limits. This is an important rule to ensure actual take does not exceed the allowable limits,” Mr Goodes said.
NSW had explained that its model needed further work to enable a better understanding of SDL compliance.
National Irrigators’ Council executive officer Isaac Jeffrey said the level of compliance demonstrated irrigators’ commitment to "doing the right thing in the eyes of the law".
“The NSW Government’s flawed modelling has led to some regions being listed as non-compliant, but what is important to note, is that there was no evidence of any individual or group in these regions taking more water than they were entitled to,” he said.
“This modelling is yet another example of how regulation demands different outputs and different standards for different players.
“It is time for other water users and governments to be held to the same high standards as irrigated agriculture, including metering extracted water for environmental use and, if modelling is used, to ensure it is viewed and questioned with scholarly rigour, and with an eye on reality.”
The report can be found at: https://www.mdba.gov.au/sites/default/files/pubs/murray-darling-basin-sustainable-diversion-limit-compliance-outcomes-2019-20-report.pdf
