Water Licensing
Irrigation Corporations
Reform of management of government owned irrigation systems in NSW was enabled by the Irrigation Corporations Act 1994 (IC1994), which had the intended effect of:
- (initially) establishing State owned corporations to manage existing Ministerial owned and operated irrigation schemes
- (subsequently) enabling those and other irrigation scheme areas to be owned and managed by private corporations on behalf of shareholders, being the existing water entitlement holders.
Between February 1995 and March 2001, the government controlled schemes were consolidated, by proclamation, into five state-owned Corporations. The corporations were then privatised and through this process ownership and management of the irrigation corporations became the responsibility of the shareholders.
The five Irrigation Corporations created under the IC1994, were:
- Coleambally Irrigation Ltd (now known as Coleambally Irrigation Cooperative Ltd)
- Jemalong Irrigation Ltd
- Murray Irrigation Ltd
- Murrumbidgee Irrigation
- Western Murray Irrigation Ltd.
The five Irrigation Corporations have now been listed as ‘Irrigation Corporations’ under Schedule 1 of the Water Management Act 2000 (WM2000).
Licensing of Irrigation Corporations
As part of the corporatisation process, each Irrigation Corporation was issued with an Operating Licence, issued under section 39 of IC1994, and an Irrigation Corporation Water Management Works Licence under section 47 of the IC1994. The Operating Licence essentially permits the holder to carry out the business of supply of water provided to it under licence and exercise the functions delegated to it under IC1994. Importantly, it also requires the company to hold a licence under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997. The Works Licences conditioned the allocation and use of water and the measurement and reporting of water diversion, use, discharge, environment management and the implementation of a land and water management plan.
On 1 July 2004, water sharing plans came into force including all the areas of operation of the irrigation corporations. This resulted in the issue of Water Access Licences, Water Supply Work Approvals and Water Use Approvals under the WM2000 Act. In the case of the Irrigation Corporations, these licences and approvals only list the conditions reflecting the requirements of the relevant water sharing plans, but did not incorporate the existing conditions of the Irrigation Corporation Licence.
The Operating Licence remains in force as a consequence of Schedule 9, Division 8, Section 35 of the WM2000 Act (ie. “Any operating licence granted to an irrigation corporation under the 1994 Act is taken to be an operating licence under Part 1 of Chapter 4 of this Act”).
Current Management
The Department of Water and Energy is undertaking a consultative review of the Irrigation Corporation Licence conditions. When agreement is reached with Irrigation Corporations and agencies with an interest in the sustainable management of the irrigated areas, the new conditions will be incorporated into the Approvals, and the Irrigation Corporation Licences will be revoked. This process is expected to be completed by early 2009.