New movements in the ongoing floodplain harvesting controversy are stirring the pot once again as internal documents reveal the publishing of the latest proposal to licence water harvesting are at odds with official advice. 

This week the NSW Government published the latest floodplain harvesting regulations which opponents say may not be compliant with the state government’s own Water Management Act. 

Documents obtained by MP Justin Field - who interrupted the allowance of a floodplain harvesting bill earlier this year - found that the NSW Minister for Water Kevin Anderson published the papers despite advice not to. 



According to the documents, the Environment and Heritage Group (EHG) found the proposed rules “do not adequately protect environmental assets” and “do not support the water management principles of the Water Management Act”.

EHG also raised concern the proposed rules would face legal challenge under NSW water laws if suggested changes were not made to the proposed flow targets, only restricting floodplain harvesting during the ‘first flush’ after a period of drought. 

NSW Irrigators Council CEO Claire Miller said that there are already regulations in place to prevent first flush harvesting. 

“We’ve already had rules put in place, and they’re being investigated, that restrict take when the rivers first start to run,” Ms Miller said. 

Floodplain harvesting licensing laws have already been disallowed three times in the NSW Upper House.

Greens MP and water spokesperson Cate Faehrmann said the publication of regulations was strategic, done while Parliament is on winter break. 

“This is a disgraceful move by the National Party Water Minister, who is hell-bent on issuing licences at volumes that will spell the end of the Darling-Baaka River while making his big irrigator mates in the north even more wealthy,” Ms Faehrmann said.

“Floodplain harvesting needs to be licensed but not like this. First and foremost, floodplain take needs to be brought within existing legal limits in the Murray-Darling Basin Plan."

Murray-Darling research and policy consultancy group Slattery and Johnson explained that if the final plans are signed off by the NSW Environment Minister, extractions will be increased from 46 gigalitres in the Basin Plan to 340 gigalitres. 

“The NSW (Government) is finalising $1 billion worth of new floodplain harvesting licences to give away to a handful of irrigators,” Slattery and Johnson posted to Twitter. 

Macquarie River Food and Fibre Executive Officer Michael Drum said that while no one will ever be happy, something needs to give. 

“The environment in this proposal has got some downstream targets which are pretty controversial from the irrigators point of view…we accept the concept is a good idea but realistically, this is the best compromise that’s politically achievable at the minute,” Mr Drum said. 

On the day that those internal documents were released (23 June), a notice of motion was made by MP Mark Pearson for the house to call on Mr Anderson to respect the three disallowances and work to develop improved targets that ‘meet critical human needs’.