| |
| |
|
All Current and Past Media Releases
|
Media Release - Department of Water and Energy Date: 9 March 2009 COMPLIANCE OPERATION TARGETS GROUNDWATER USE IN SOUTHERN VALLEYS Groundwater use in the Murray and Murrumbidgee valleys was again the focus of a compliance operation by the Department of Water and Energy (DWE).
In the sixth operation focusing on groundwater use and licensing in the Southern Valleys in the past two years, DWE officers inspected 48 holdings to ensure that water was being used in line with licence conditions.
DWE’s Manager of Compliance Operations, Katrina O’Reilly said that most of the licence holders were aware of and operating within their licence conditions, despite the drought.
The operation targeted groundwater users in the Colleambally, Leeton and Deniliquin areas, with DWE officers checking usage against licence conditions and ensuring proper metering of water use in line with licence entitlements.
“In general we found that most licence holders were well aware of their obligations and were extracting water legally. This is a great improvement on our first surveillance operation,” said Ms O’Reilly.
Metering and over extraction remain the biggest issues in both valleys, with a number of meters found to be broken.
“This is an offence under the Water Management Act 2000 as it is a requirement that metered works have a properly operating water meter when pumping”, warned Ms O’Reilly.
“License holders should report any faulty or broken meters to the Department or State Water immediately to prevent a lot of heart ache and costly fines.
“Of equal concern is the continued over extraction by some license holders of more water than they are entitled to.”
Ms O’Reilly emphasised that it was the responsibility of the license holder to check with NSW State Water to ensure that there is water in their account before they pump.
“This means that if you have purchased water, you need to check that the trade has actually been approved and that the water is in your account before you pump for irrigation,” she said.
Fines under the Water Management Act 2000 were increased on 1 January 2009. The maximum penalty for an individual found guilty of water theft is now $247,500, with a further $66,000 per day that the offence continues.
“The February operation is part of an ongoing strategy to roll out compliance surveillance operations across the State,” Ms O’Reilly said.
“With the drought continuing in the Southern Basin it is critical that all water users respect the law so that no-one is disadvantaged.
“I encourage anyone who notices suspicious activity to make a confidential report to the Department on free call 1800 633 362 or by email to watercompliance@dwe.nsw.gov.au.”
|
|||||||||||||||