Victoria currently has two Acts governing the management of water: the Water Act 1989, and the Water Industry Act 1994.
The Victorian government is reviewing, updating, simplifying and combining the water Acts.
They are doing this in order to streamline the Acts, to make them more easily understood, and to reduce administration for catchment management authorities, water corporations and users.
The relevance to some other cherry producing states is that it complies with the Murray Darling Basin Plan, while at the same time maintaining the integrity of Victoria’s water license holders.
Named the ‘Water Bill Exposure Draft’, submissions unfortunately closed on February 14 2014. However, I would hope - given the very short lead time for comment - that, should an irrigator wish to comment, their comments would still be given some consideration.
The Bill is expected to go before parliament this year, with a commencement date of 1 January 2016.
Issues covered
The review will cover: secure entitlements and allocations; licensing—take and use; works and activities; water resource management orders; planning and managing water use; compliance and enforcement; powers to enter land, and many more. Be aware!
Documents are available here: http://www.depi.vic.gov.au/water/governing-water-resources/water-law-review
For more see Tree Fruit February 2014
