Water Users In Lower Murrumbidgee Do Their Part To Protect At-Risk Groundwater Sources

Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) has conducted bore audits that reveal Lower Murrumbidgee water users appear to be doing the right thing.

The independent water regulator found no evidence of water users in the area exceeding their bore extraction limits in the 12 months preceding June 2021.

Director of Water Regulation at NRAR, Graeme White said it was an encouraging result not just for the regulator but for the communities, industries and ecosystems that relied on groundwater.

“It confirms that water users want to do the right thing and are willing to take the steps needed to bring their water practices into compliance with the law,” Mr White said.

A bore extraction limit is the maximum amount of water that can be taken from a groundwater work such as a bore.

Bore extraction limits help protect complex and fragile groundwater sources from contamination and depletion while preventing the aquifer from deteriorating.

Bore audits in it the Murrumbidgee region for the 2019-20 financial year found 25 instances of bore extraction limits being exceeded, equal to almost 10 per cent of approval holders with a bore extraction limit in the region.

NRAR’s response varied depending on the volume of the extraction but ranged from advisory letters, official warnings, fines and in the most extreme case, a prosecution.

“It’s encouraging to see that water users who previously exceeded their limits had changed their behaviour,” Mr White said.

Bore extraction limits are one of NRAR’s four regulatory priorities for the 2021-22 financial year and have been the focus of one of the regulator’s recent education and engagement campaigns as well as compliance audits.

“We’ve done a fair amount of work in this space but we also know that water users are more likely to follow the rules when there is plenty of water in the system so we can’t get complacent,” Mr White said.

NRAR will continue to audit bores through to the end of June 2022 in the Lachlan, Lower Murrumbidgee and Namoi regions, including the towns of Coleambally, Hay, Hillston, Gunnedah, Narrabri, Forbes and Tamworth.

Penalties for exceeding a bore extraction limit include fines, suspension or cancellation of licences and approvals, stop-work orders or prosecution.

Visit nrar.nsw.gov.au/bore-extraction-limits to learn more about how to comply with bore extraction limits.

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