Since the breaking of the drought, in the late summer of 2020, irrigation matters in the Hunter and Mid North Coast may have taken a back seat as a recurring La Nina weather pattern delivered record breaking rainfall.
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But with dry conditions now prevailing across those regions and with expectations they will to continue into spring and summer water and irrigation issues will become a prominent concern for landholders and farmers.
At the Hunter Valley Water Users Association (HVWUA) annual general meeting held earlier this month in Singleton irrigators from the Hunter Valley and Central Coast were keen to voice their concerns with what they described as a lack of communication between themselves and the state's water bureaucracy.
HVWUA had organised for a number of guest speakers to attend the AGM. They included representatives from Department of Planning and Environment - water division, WaterNSW and Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR).
The speakers covered topics like the new metering regulations, water prices and infrastructure projects.
But the recurring questions from landholders to the speakers was the lack of communication particularly regarding the new metering regulations for non-urban metering which will come into place on December 1 2024 (Coastal).
Non urban metering covers regulated rivers, unregulated rivers and groundwater systems under a water access licence, where the take can be measured by a meter.
Several famers from the Upper Hunter said at the meeting they had no idea about the new tamper proof meters. Adding that they found navigating the online portals to obtain information was also problematic.
HVWUA vice-president Ken Bray spoke about the short notice provided to water users regarding the Environmental Water Allowance (EWA) in the Hunter River.
In an email to customers from WaterNSW it stated the EWA release commenced at a rate of 1150ML/day and was likely to increase to 2350ML/day. This winter release is planned by the Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) Biodiversity and Conservation Division (BCD)to support the migration of Australian Bass over Liddell weir based on the previous EWA release in 2020.
"We were only given 24 hours notice about this large volume release," he said.
Paterson Valley dairyfarmer David Williams, Vacy raised concerns that stock and domestic water users along the rivers do not have to comply with the new metering regulations.
"How do we know much water they are using and remember they have access to high security water allocations."
He also fears irrigators could end up paying the running costs of the Lostock Dam to Glennies Creek Dam pipeline an infrastructure project he also considers could jeopardise his water security.