OPINIONS continue to vary following last week’s announcement the 450 gigalitres needing to be recovered from the basin system for the health of the river won’t be done to the detriment of irrigators.
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On Friday, state and federal water ministers met in Melbourne and hailed their agreement as ‘historic’ while 300 people from irrigation areas protested outside.
The water won’t be taken without first testing whether it will have a “positive” or “neutral” affect.
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Should it be deemed to have a negative impact, it won’t go ahead.
Leeton shire mayor Paul Maytom was uncertain how these tests would be conducted.
“We’re going to have to have faith in what they are doing and trust them when they determine what the impact will be,” he said.
“So, I guess in some ways that might be a little concerning, but the big thing here will be trust that everyone is doing the right thing.
“It is something we are all going to need to be part of.”
The tests will also focus on the socio and economic impacts.
NSW Water Minister Niall Blair said a robust socio-economic test for upwater projects had been agreed to.
“Not a drop of water will go to the upwater (tally) unless there’s a neutral or positive economic impact,” he said. “If the test shows its going to be negative, it can’t go ahead.”
Mr Blair said the test would look at the impact on jobs, the price of water and the broader regional impact.
The news of the agreement comes as irrigators continue to struggle with low water allocations.
On Monday, it was announced there was no increase in general security allocations in the Murrumbidgee regulated river system.
Licence holders remain on seven per cent of entitlement.
Rainfall in the last week is not included in this assessment, but it is unlikely to produce any general security allocation improvement at this stage.
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