WATER — VARIABLE
TAKE LICENCES
664. Hon DIANE EVERS to the minister representing the
Minister for Water:
Recently, two 200-millimetre pipes
have been laid from a farm north west of Seven Day Road and run south east
along farm boundaries on crown land toward a sump on the upper Lefroy Brook at
Palings Road. These pipes connect the brook to a dam higher up in the catchment
owned by Travis Luzney, who has a variable take licence for 500 megalitres. The
pipe is not yet fully connected.
(1) Is the minister aware of this
installation?
(2) Were approvals required; and, if
yes, have they been obtained?
(3) Is it
acceptable for a variable take licence to fill dams from a sump four kilometres
downstream from the farm boundary?
(4) As this dam
and two others with 500-megalitre variable take licences along Lefroy Brook are
already collecting water, how will compliance be achieved if it turns out to be
a dry year when A-class licences should have priority over variable take
licences?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the question.
The following information has been provided to me by the Minister for Water.
(1) The minister is now aware.
(2) Yes. Required approvals have
been obtained.
(3) Yes, subject
to the assessment and authorisation by the Department of Water and
Environmental Regulation under the Rights in Water and Irrigation Act 1914.
(4) The
department undertakes a general and targeted compliance and auditing of water
licences on a risk management basis to achieve a specified outcome or in
response to complaints. In making an informed decision on entitlements granted
in the variable take resources, provisions are made to ensure that the minimum
flow thresholds are bypassed to meet the reliability of supply of downstream
users, including the environment, before water can be taken under these
licences.