NSW flood plain harvesting rules won’t protect environment, government advisers warn

The Perrottet government has been warned by its own advisers that proposed flood plain harvesting rules will not adequately protect the environment or the needs of downstream communities in the Murray Darling Basin.

Documents obtained through parliament by independent MLC Justin Field show the government received advice that proposed targets meant to ensure river health were too low.

Officials from the department's environment and heritage divisions also raised concern the targets were inconsistent with the objectives of the state's water laws, which require critical human and environmental needs to be prioritised.

Field, scientists, conservationists and traditional owner groups are calling for tougher targets to be set before the New South Wales environment minister, James Griffin, signs off on any changes to water sharing plans.

"Are they [the government] going to stand up for river communities and the environment or give in to the Nationals and vested corporate irrigator interests?" Field said.

On 1 July, the NSW water minister, Kevin Anderson, re-introduced regulations to enable the issuing of flood plain harvesting licences.

The regulations have been disallowed three times by the Legislative Council, primarily due to concern about the need to protect downstream water users and the environment.

While there is general agreement flood plain harvesting should be regulated, critics have called for rules that ensure harvesting can only occur after water needs for areas such as Menindee Lakes and Ramsar wetland sites, such as the Macquarie Marshes, are met.

In response to a parliamentary inquiry, Anderson published a set of targets to protect "first flush" events from being extracted by irrigators.

They include a target that would prevent water from being taken when there is less than 195 gigalitres stored in the Menindee Lakes system.

For flood plain harvesting to occur, Griffin must sign off on amendments to northern basin water sharing plans.

A briefing produced in June by Griffin's department said the environment and heritage group "considers the proposed in-catchment targets to be too low to protect key environmental assets outside extreme dry periods".

It said the targets failed to consider the long term health of the environment and did not "support the water management principles of the WM [Water Management] Act".

To address this, the environment and heritage group said it had prepared alternative targets that were based on environmental water requirements.

The briefing reflects an earlier email sent to Griffin's office in May noting the targets were "low".

Another email between officials on 11 February showed them discussing the potential for downstream targets that would prevent extraction when there were critical human and environmental needs.

The officials wrote such targets would "strengthen the case that the minister is taking all reasonable steps" to comply with the Water Management Act, noting that a legal challenge on these grounds was considered "likely".

The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists has said the proposed targets are so low they "will never meaningfully restrict floodplain harvesting and will fail to ensure that water for river health and community needs are prioritised above irrigation".

They said the 195 gigalitre target for Menindee Lakes - the site of mass fish deaths in 2018 and 2019 - was so low that the volume stored at Menindee had only fallen to that level six times in the past 43 years, always during extreme drought.

Prof Richard Kingsford, a member of the group, said the principle of setting targets was "to be applauded" but they needed to be higher to meet the needs of communities and traditional owners downstream and for Ramsar sites such as the Macquarie Marshes or the Gwydir wetlands to benefit.

"They're really the targets you have when you don't want targets," he said.

"We need to make sure these ecosystems and the people downstream who need water are getting enough and we avoid things like these massive fish kills."

The Nature Conservation Council of NSW said the government "should go back to the drawing board, consult widely and come up with a more sustainable solution".

Graeme McCrabb, a farmer and water advocate who sounded the alarm about the Menindee fish deaths, said the target for his region was "insulting".

Discussion is continuing within the government about the water sharing rules.

Griffin said the government was committed to regulating flood plain harvesting to maintain sustainable water levels and return water to the environment.

"I am carefully considering the detail of the proposed rules which will authorise flood plain harvesting."

Anderson said the government's floodplain harvesting policy was "the biggest environmental reform the practice has ever seen".

He said they were the first restrictions of this type anywhere in the basin and would significantly strengthen downstream protections.