UNMETERED water diversions and questionable new water entitlements allegedly taken from the Warrego River by government water and environmental agencies on a government-owned property near Bourke have been referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption by the Member for Barwon, Roy Butler.
The historic Toorale property, located near the junction of the Warrego and Darling Rivers, was acquired by the NSW government in 2008 for the stated purpose of benefiting the environment at Toorale and downstream, with a focus on removing in-river earth structures that were deemed environmentally harmful.
At the same time, the Federal government acquired the property’s water rights with a view to increasing flows from the Warrego River into the Darling River.
A department spokesperson said the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder is aware the NSW Natural Resources Access Regulator is reviewing the use and operations of infrastructure at Toorale.
“The CEWH is assisting NRAR and is not able to comment further on active enquiries,” the spokesperson said.
“The CEWH is externally regulated the same as other water users – for example, debiting of water from our accounts, and compliance – and we welcome scrutiny to provide public confidence in our operations.
“The CEWH does not own or manage infrastructure such as weirs and dams and is not a system operator.
“The CEWH is aware of recent media coverage regarding referral of this matter to the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption.
“The CEWH has not been formally advised of this development and is not able to comment further at this stage,” the spokesperson said.
The accounting arrangements in place for CEWH water on the Western Floodplain are set out in the Toorale water management infrastructure operating and maintenance plan.
“NSW operates the infrastructure and measures the amount of water used using the approved methods in the plan,” the spokesperson said.
“They then report the volume of water used to WaterNSW for charging and debiting from the licence.”
The Australian Floodplain Association alleges the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder appears to be operating under a different set of rules than other water users in the Murray-Darling Basin.
The association says the process of updating water licenses appeared to grant the federal water agency greater water entitlements than those held by similar license holders; the Warrego River downstream is now effectively regulated, which should require the Warrego to have a regulated river Water Sharing Plan; the CEWH’s diversions to the Western Floodplain should be metered, with excess water being returned to the main river channel; and the NSW and Commonwealth Governments have run processes that appear not to be available to their license holders.
“I am referring the diversion of the Warrego River at Toorale to ICAC after a lengthy process of raising concerns with various Water and Environment Ministers, NRAR and writing a submission to the review of the diversionary infrastructure project,” Mr Butler said.
“The responses I’ve received have been deeply unsatisfactory.
“All water users and anyone who cares about the environment should be alarmed that these government agencies appear to have processes and relationships not available to anyone else.
“The rules need to apply equally, or confidence in our water laws and agencies is eroded,” he said.
“The NSW Water Department refuses to remake the Water Sharing Plan for the Warrego as a regulated river plan, despite the current unregulated plan being reviewed in the last few years.
“There has also been a total lack of public consultation on the impacts of these water diversions on the community and the environment downstream.
“It is time for an ICAC investigation to make sure that everyone in the Basin is following the same set of rules, whether you are a government agency or not,” Mr Butler said.
The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder has published information on its Toorale operations at Toorale and the Western Floodplain.
