ALMOST three-quarters of fines for unlawful water taking in NSW in the first quarter of the year were handed out to users in Wentworth.
It has prompted the NSW Natural Resources Access Regulator to remind water users that overdrawing water accounts is unlawful, even if there is an intention to pay.
NRAR issued 11 fines across NSW for failing to comply with water access licences from January to March this year, with eight fines being handed to water users in Wentworth’s local government area.
One water user was fined a total of $3000 for four breaches of their licence on two occasions, when they took water while having an insufficient water balance.
Another four water users were fined $750 each for taking water before placing an order.
NRAR water regulation director Gregory Abood said the water user who was fined $3000 had taken “a significant amount” of water and he hoped the fine would put them “on notice” to comply in the future.
He said the compliance checks in the area highlighted an ongoing misconception about what constituted legal water take.
“We need to correct … a misperception out there that you can purchase water after pumping to bring your account back into balance,” Mr Abood said.
“Overdrawing your account, it’s illegal. You have committed an offence.”
Mr Abood said the big message to water users in Wentworth was to read the terms of conditions of their licence and to have accurate and reliable water meters installed.
The Wentworth LGA also received five formal notices (or warnings), which was equal highest along with Coffs Harbour, and follows the area receiving just under a fifth of all fines (nine) in the second half of 2021.
Overall, the water regulator reported reduced numbers of enforcement actions during the first quarter, making 2589 property inspections while carrying out 44 enforcement actions. 15 prosecutions are active in court.
The compliance checks come after NRAR reported in January that 31 per cent of water pumps larger than 500ml in the state did not have water meters installed a year after a deadline to do so.
Mr Abood said the “three-fold” increase in compliance rates for large pumps (500ML and above) in the state, including southwest NSW, was “promising” as the regulator turned its attention to the installation of medium-sized water pumps (between 100 and 500ML) in the north of the state.
“We’re now focused on water users in the northwest of NSW installing and operating accurate and reliable meters but also water users who are in at-risk groundwater sources.”
