NSW authorities are investigating several major “unexplained” incidents where 200GL of flood water – equivalent to nearly half the volume of Sydney harbour – was harvested by irrigators during floods in western NSW in late 2020 and early 2021.
NSW estimates was told last week 26 separate incidents were under investigation. Seven involve very large volumes which far exceed the amounts that were subsequently licensed.
“Through … surveillance, we were able to detect [incidents] in the March-April period where it would appear from our surveillance that water was being taken unusually,” the Natural Resources Access Regulator’s chief regulatory officer, Grant Barnes, told estimates.
“[We] determined about 200 gigalitres of water was extracted through the flood event, which we’re investigating now … [There were] around 26 instances where the water taken was quite considerable and would be in excess of what might be, or what has been, granted through a flood plain harvesting licence entitlement.”
Barnes told Guardian Australia NRAR was now concentrating efforts on seven incidents – “those that have taken far more than they were entitled to”.
He said at least 40GL of the water in the dams was “unexplained” at this stage.
The latest revelations by NRAR will once again bring into sharp focus the NSW government’s controversial plans to license irrigators to harvest flood waters using channels and levees as the water moves slowly across flood plains.
Environmental groups say this practice has been responsible for the dramatic falls in river flows in the Darling river system because between 20% and 30% never reaches the river.
They warn that plans by the NSW government to license flood plain harvesting are too generous, are not based on science, and will entrench the problems of the Murray Darling Basin.
The NRAR has been using satellite imagery and drones to track where water from early flood events has ended up.
It is concentrating its efforts in the Border Rivers and Gwydir catchments as flood plain licences have now been granted in those valleys, and irrigators were aware at the time of the 2021 floods how much was proposed to be licensed.
However, the investigations are complex because the vast on-farm storages which hold the water (round dams that can be seen when flying over inland NSW) can be used for different purposes.
In some cases, farmers pump water from rivers under their water licences and hold it in dams for future use. In other cases, it is flood plain harvesting.
Asked by the independent MP Justin Field whether any prosecutions had been commenced, Barns said NRAR was still investigating and had staff “in the field”.
“I say to you that all options are on the table, both criminal and civil,” he said.
The chief executive of the NSW Irrigators’ Council, Claire Miller, said NRAR was doing its job, including visiting farms across NSW to check whether water users were complying with the relevant licence conditions.
“That is their role as the regulator. We are pleased to see that NRAR is using satellite technology but then importantly, also ground-truthing that information,” she said.