Sunday, 27 September 2020
New South Wales 2020: the problem of water greed & outright theft
The
Sydney Morning Herald,
21 September 2020:
The
rapid growth of blueberry and other intensive farming in northern NSW
has prompted a crackdown on illegal water use and sparked concerns
about pollution in rivers and in the state's first marine
conservation area.
The
Natural Resources Access Regulator found 28 of 31 farms it inspected
around the Coffs Harbour region in the first two stages of the
clampdown were allegedly non-compliant with water laws.
The
regulator said in the five years prior to the start of the campaign,
agencies received more than 130 reports of alleged breaches in the
region. "This potentially indicated a high level of
non-compliance," a spokeswoman for the regulator said.
For
the first two phases, the regulator ordered 13 farms to reduce the
capacity of dams among 25 directions. Other actions include 20
penalty notices, with more likely after a third stage of
investigations last month.
The
problems stem in part from the conversion of banana farms to
blueberries, raspberries and cucumbers, among other products, in the
past two decades. Farms with set water licences have been subdivided,
with new owners apparently adding bores, pumps and even dams on the
smaller plots.
Water
quality, too, has been compromised as the more intensive crops
increase the use of fertilisers, pesticides and other chemicals.
That's prompted the Coffs Harbour City Council to
commission multiple studies by researchers from the Southern Cross
University, among others.
One
report found levels of nitrogen soared after rains as fertiliser from
farms washed into rivers, reaching 695 times that of drier
conditions.
"These
[nitrogen oxide] loads were amongst the highest reported for
catchments on the east coast of Australia, and similar to loads in
rivers throughout China, Europe and India with strong agricultural or
urban influences," the 2018 study found.
Shane
White, one of the Southern Cross University researchers, said the
Coffs region is prone to short, heavy rain bursts. Soils in the hilly
area are typically shallow and sit on a clay base that limits the
absorption of water, leading to significant run-off….
Breaches
of NSW water laws have also been found in the Northern Rivers area in
2020 to date - 1 direction notice and 2 penalty notices have been
issued to Clarence Valley LGA landowners, 2 direction notices
to Ballina LGA landowners, 3 penalty notices to Byron Bay
LGA landowners, 3 penalty notices to Lismore LGA
landowners and 1 direction notice and 3 penalty notices for Tweed
LGA landowners.
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