Local consultation begins on state water reforms
Opportunity for industry to shine, says GVIA
On Tuesday, 13th March 2018 Minister for Regional Water, the Hon. Niall Blair announced the opportunity for consultation into the NSW Governments approach to water reform in NSW.
Zara Lowien, Executive Officer from the Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association, said
“The Minister released four separate discussion papers on key reforms to the states policy on:
- Water take measurement and metering;
- Management of environmental water;
- Transparency measures; and
- Floodplain harvesting.
“All four discussion papers are relevant to how water is measured, managed and reported in the Gwydir Valley.
“The discussion papers and consultation, are the start of a wider conversation with government and the community, on how we work together to rebuild everyone’s confidence that all water users are accessing their share of water, no more and no less.
“Water is precious and that’s why water users in this region already have adopted the most accurate and innovative technologies available to measure and monitor water on-farm.
“Improvement in water-use efficiencies have been possible due to locally driven and implemented research and the rapid adoption of cutting edge technology. We see a real opportunity to further demonstrate these achievements to the wider community.
“We encourage everyone to review the discussion papers and attend the open consultation session in Moree on 27th March at The Max Centre from 2pm. The documents can be accessed at www.industry.nsw.gov.au/water-reform.
“We also encourage those interested in understanding more about the local irrigation industry, its water usage and research program, to visit our website www.gvia.org.au” She said.