IPART's final WAMC pricing determination will add more costs to farm budgets, with a 5% plus CPI annual increase in water licensing fees announced for the next four years. While considerably less than the 15% initially requested by WAMC, it's yet another cost for water users in NSW to contend with.
NSWIC has been a vocal critic of the current water pricing model and strongly rejected the initial 15% funding increase that WAMC proposed. Water fees continue to drive affordability concerns for many water users who do not have the financial capacity to absorb higher charges.
"This price hike comes on top of IPART's previous decision to increase WaterNSW costs by an average of 8.3% across valleys. It adds further pressure on irrigators, who are already contending with rising input costs like energy and fertiliser", said NSWIC CEO, Dr. Madeleine Hartley.
According to IPART, an irrigator on the unregulated Murrumbidgee with a 500ML licence and 60% average usage will see an increase to their WAMC bill by $1,041 over the next four years. The equivalent irrigator in the unregulated Namoi system will pay an extra $412 over the next four years.
"For the Murrumbidgee, this 5% increase represents a $602 saving when compared to the initial 15% WAMC proposal", Dr Hartley said. "Despite these savings, some transaction costs central to compliance have increased, with telemetry validation fees nearly doubling in price."
Dr Hartley said, "this decision on top of other rising financial pressures will be felt on farms across NSW. This can have an impact on local production and, ultimately, the price of food and fibre in our shops."
"NSWIC acknowledges that IPART has heard our affordability concerns and lessened the blow. We agree with its assessment that many of WAMC's costs were not sufficiently justified, and we hope that in the long-term, a lasting solution to the affordability of water charges in NSW can be found."
