She said declaring these areas wetlands would have allowed the government to control the use of this land, including a significant amount of privately-owned land.
“The people of rural NSW have spoken out, and the government has listened,” Mrs Dalton said.
The little-known plan was discovered by Mrs Dalton and her staff among the details of the government’s proposed Unregulated Water Sharing Plan.
“Thank heavens we realised what was going on, and could alert people,” Mrs Dalton said.
“Otherwise bureaucrats sitting at desks and looking at maps in the Sydney CBD would have declared huge amounts of property to be wetlands, and that land would have been lost to rural NSW communities forever.”
Mrs Dalton notified residents about the government’s plans and then started a campaign to stop the declarations.
“I honestly believe we weren't meant to know about these declarations until they happened,” she said.
“But because people spoke up quickly and loudly, the government has had to back down.”
Amongst the areas which have avoided being arbitrarily declared as wetlands is Lake Coolah.
“Lake Coolah must play an important role in the rescuing of the Murray-Darling Basin,” Mrs Dalton said.
“Wrongly locking it up as a wetland would be a disaster for the Basin and for Australia.”
The NSW Government has agreed to stop any further declarations and will instead closely consult with the community before acting further. The government has also agreed to review the six wetland declarations it has already made.
“This is a victory for the people of rural NSW,” Mrs Dalton said. “It just goes to show that when we speak up about matters that are important to us, the government knows it must take rural NSW seriously.”
The NSW Irrigators Council is urging landholders to review new maps of wetlands on private properties and called for a 12 month period of consultation and review.
Feedback is currently required by March 23 which NSWIC CEO Clair Miller described as “manifestly inadequate”.
“The original mapping was clearly unworkable and the revised maps are far more accurate. However, the department must still ensure that all affected landholders are notified of the changes and understand any impacts on water use rules.
“This whole debacle could have been avoided had the department done its work properly upfront to ground-truth mapping.”
NSWIC hopes future work on water sharing plans can better incorporate the knowledge of water licence holders and landholders interacting with NSW waterways daily.
“It was clear from day one that the original wetlands maps were wildly inaccurate but this was somehow overlooked by the department,” Ms Miller said.
“The next big step is allowing 12 months to meet with all landholders with wetlands on the revised maps, to answer their questions.”
