SRI CEO Sophie Baldwin said the NWA is a replacement for the National Water Initiative.
“The NWI was an extremely important agreement underpinning water use in the nation - some people would argue it was the last piece of work that showed any true, genuine, stakeholder consultation,” Ms Baldwin said.
The original preamble of the NWI acknowledged water was used for a variety of purposes including irrigation, industrial use, mining and servicing rural and urban communities - acknowledging decisions must involve balancing economic, environmental and other interests in recognition of a continued national imperative to increase productivity and efficiency, while providing greater certainty for investment and the environment, by dealing with change responsibly and fairly.
The NWI also gave all stakeholders a common language to talk about water reform.
Ms Baldwin said the NWA demonstrates the “complete opposite”.
“In 2024 we find ourselves with an agreement so far removed from the original NWI it is astounding,” he said.
“And there are some alarming omissions.
“The original NWI stated ‘Governments are to bear the risks of any reduction or less reliable water allocation that is not previously provided for, arising from changes in government policy (for example new environmental objectives)’.
“The removal of this is a major red flag and erodes the concept of property rights enshrined in the original intergovernmental agreement.
“There are over 300 policies in this document, and not once is there any mention of the importance and value of the generational knowledge our farming families have collected over the generations.
“These are farming families whose insight on how rivers run, and where water flows is far more knowledgeable than the bureaucrats sitting behind a desk in the city.
“The intergovernmental agreement has been hijacked by ideological environmental outcomes and First Nations water issues. While we agree on the importance of these, they are not the only issues that need addressing.
“The omission of irrigation and the role it plays in economic value for the country and environmental opportunity is glaringly obvious and cause for major concern.”
Ms Baldwin said there is also no acknowledgment some valleys have a long-term history of under use.
“There is no mechanism in place to enable valleys to meet their long term sustainable diversion limits under appropriate conditions.
“Once again we have found ourselves in a position where we have not been consulted, and yet, we are directly impacted.”
SRI representatives visited NSW Water Minister Rose Jackson last month, urging the minister to refrain from supporting the NWA in its current form.
“The implications are far wider than the Riverina, and if this agreement goes through, it will be disastrous not just for us, but for the whole country.
“All water users - including cultural, environmental water and irrigation - have an equal role to play in sustainable water management, and one shouldn’t have precedence over the other.”
