NSW Irrigators’ Council CEO Claire Miller said the top-down approach was squandering the opportunity to forge positive partnerships with landholders to achieve real environmental outcomes.
“The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water is building resentment rather than cultivating goodwill with its rushed consultation process on seven inland water sharing plans,” Ms Miller said.
“It’s as if the Department took to the valley maps with a crayon, scribbling wetlands all over them without actually visiting the regions or engaging meaningfully with those on the ground.
“Many of the ‘significant’ wetland sites identified are, in fact, prime agricultural land being used to grow food and fibre, but it has been left up to farmers to prove it by February 2.
“This reliance on remote sensing and desktop research rather than getting out in the field is unfair and scientifically indefensible.
“We are asking the NSW Government to postpone gazetting wetlands in water sharing plans for at least three years to enable the Department to correct mapping errors and partner with willing landholders to identify and voluntarily protect genuine wetlands on private property.
“With more than 93 per cent of wetlands in the Murray-Darling Basin being on private property, it is essential for governments to work with landholders rather than imposing regulations from above, based on inaccurate remote mapping.
“Where there are indeed significant wetland, then obviously the landholder has been doing something right to maintain its values. They should be supported, not threatened with implicit future changes in water access rules and allowable production.”
“Farmers have proven they are willing partners in environmental rehabilitation. This top-down, desktop approach ignores local expertise and misses the opportunity to achieve real outcomes.”
NSWIC has asked in its submission for a three-year review period whereby all wetlands are ground-truthed, legal ramifications are made clear, and the Department develops a voluntary partnership program with funding for protection measures such as fencing, weed control and revegetation.
The seven draft valley water sharing plans under review are the:
- Unregulated Murrumbidgee Valley
- Unregulated Lachlan Valley
- Barwon-Darling
- Unregulated Belubula Valley
- Unregulated Gwydir Valley
- Unregulated Macquarie/Wambuul Valley
- Unregulated Namoi/Peel Valley
NSWIC is also asking that the 2024 Border Rivers unregulated water sharing plan be amended to similarly allow for properly groundtruthing of its wetland maps.
NSWIC’s submission can be viewed at https://www.nswic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NSW-Water-Sharing-Plans-Submission.pdf.
