Mark Anthony Ryan, 54, pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to taking, using or diverting an authority’s water.
Goulburn-Murray Water prosecutor Lauren Cornwall told the court Goulburn-Murray Water received a phone call about an illegal diversion of water that was taking place at 10.10pm on April 23 last year.
When an officer went to the site along the side of the Central Goulburn Number 8 Channel at 11pm, they found a tractor pumping water from the channel into an on-farm channel.
Two megalitres of water was taken illegally, which at the time was worth about $508 in total.
Ryan did not appear in court for medical reasons, but was represented by his solicitor Ashley Richardson who had been fully briefed on the matter.
Mr Richardson said things were tough at the time for his client, who milks about 300 cows now, but was milking about 100 at the time.
“Milk prices were low, the water price was high and he struggled financially,” Mr Richardson said.
The defence solicitor told the court his client had almost finished watering 40.4 hectares but just needed a little bit more water to finish it off.
Mr Richardson said the water was a “relatively small amount”, but that Ryan did have a prior from 14 years ago when he said his client had “taken the fall” for another person.
Mr Richardson said since that time Ryan had employed a farm manager.
He had also been one of two people to start the Dairy Farmer Victoria Consortium, which approaches suppliers to get better prices for milk for farmers as a collective.
“He knows he’s done the wrong thing,” Mr Richardson said.
“By focusing on this consortium he has tried to make amends for what he has done to the community.”
Magistrate Peter Dunn was scathing of the offence.
“Every drop of water he takes is water someone with a licence or an allocation may not be able to get,” he said.
“Rural communities are generally strongly bonded together and look out for each other ... but this taking water, potentially from another farmer, strikes at the heart of that.
“At the time when this occurred, things were pretty dire with the cost of water and the lack of rain.”
Ryan was fined $10,000 and ordered to pay $127.40 in court costs.
He also has to pay $1708.75 in costs for Goulburn-Murray Water.
No conviction was recorded in the matter.
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