WESTERN MOUNT LOFTY RANGES WATER ALLOCATION PLAN

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:50): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: I am pleased to have adopted the water allocation plan for the Western Mount Lofty Ranges on 17 September 2013. The water resources of the Western Mount Lofty Ranges were prescribed in 2005 under the Natural Resources Management Act 2004 in response to community concern over the impact of water resource development on water sharing and the environment.

Since the prescription of these resources, the Adelaide & Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board, led by the presiding member, Professor Chris Daniels, has been actively engaging with the community and industry groups within the Western Mount Lofty Ranges. The board led an extensive consultation process in 2011, and community and industry input has been instrumental in getting to this point.

The plan will guide water management decisions throughout the Western Mount Lofty Ranges so that water is divided fairly between all users, including also the environment. This is very important, not just for irrigators and residents within the region, but also for metropolitan Adelaide, as rainfall in the Western Mount Lofty Ranges feeds reservoirs that capture drinking water for Adelaide.

This plan also deals with groundwater within the region and it mandates the importance of measuring water use and monitoring the long-term sustainability of the water resources (both surface water and groundwater) in the region. The plan relies on science to determine the sustainable long-term balance between all users—the general community, industry and our natural environment. It aims to manage water use by ensuring that new allocations are within sustainable limits and minimises the risks of new use on existing users.

The plan protects existing users by minimising the risk of new dams having negative impacts on existing dams or downstream environmental assets. Under the plan, no new dams within the catchment of a reservoir can be built for any purpose, unless there is an equivalent reduction in capacity elsewhere in the catchment. Where the proposed dam is in, or near to, a wetland, an on-site assessment is undertaken on a case-by-case basis to determine if the new dam is likely to have a detrimental impact on an existing wetland.

In instances where a landholder wants to build, deepen or enlarge a dam with a capacity exceeding five megalitres or a dam with a wall height greater than three metres above the natural ground level, a development authorisation is needed under the Development Act 1993. The plan introduces the concept of rollover credits, allowing a portion of unused allocation from a previous year to be carried over to following years. This flexibility is particularly helpful to water users in managing the impacts of variable seasonal conditions and enables licence holders to build up a buffer or bank of water in good years to assist in dry years. The plan also introduces the ability to transfer water allocations and outlines how these entitlements can be transferred. Water licences and allocations are personal entitlements that are tradable assets. A technical assessment is undertaken to consider any impacts or risks to the resource or any existing user of a transfer.

While adoption of the plan will make it possible for water users to make applications for new dams or wells, utilise rollover allocations and transfer licence and allocations, a decision has been made to temporarily reserve all new water until all licensing is finalised. This decision means that initially no new water allocation applications will be considered and there will be constraints on allocation transfers and new dam approvals. This decision is consistent with taking a conservative and responsible approach to water allocation, recognising that water availability within catchments across the region will not be certain until outstanding issues arising from licensing are resolved.

We make water allocation plans because we live in the driest state in the driest inhabited continent in the world. We know the impact of drought and that our water resources must be well understood and protected so that we can maintain economic productivity and take care of our environment even when water is scarce.

I congratulate and thank the Adelaide & Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board for the hard work they put into this plan. It represents a major step towards securing sustainable water supplies for the community, industry and environment for future generations. The community, industry and environment in the western Mount Lofty Ranges region will benefit from the adoption of a water allocation plan to provide water security for the future.