NSW Irrigators' Council CEO Dr Madeleine Hartley has raised serious concerns about uncompensated and involuntary changes to water access rules recently added to the Gwydir, Namoi, and Macquarie, unregulated water sharing plans. She warns that recent changes to cease-to-pump triggers in these plans will further threaten the future of food and fibre production in NSW.
Dr Hartley said the rule changes highlight a fundamental failure to understand their real-world impact on irrigators, who are already struggling with record fuel and fertiliser costs, supply shortages, and proposed increases to water charges in regulated rivers - all while the Basin Plan Review is underway.
"For growers, water is essential - it underpins financing, production, and long-term investment," Dr Hartley said.
"When water access is reduced without warning or compensation, it directly impacts asset values, business viability and the ability to service debt."
"These proposed changes to pumping heights will have devastating impact on these communities and could force many small irrigation operations to shut down. Fundamentally, they are eroding the value of water as a property right and pushing growers out of business."
"In the Gwydir Valley, we know that in one water source the changes impact total holdings of 176ML, so will have almost no impact on any environmental outcomes, but this will impact reliability of access for small users. There will also be significant impacts felt in the Namoi Valley.
"The NSW Environment Minister is effectively saying, 'We don't need your consent to take your water and we're not paying for it'. It's the equivalent of siphoning fuel out of your car and expecting you to keep driving your produce to market."
"As part of Basin Plan reforms, water recovery has always been voluntary and compensated. Instead, NSW is now recovering water beyond Basin Plan targets through unclear, last-minute changes to water sharing plans."
"The NSW Government's 'Alternatives to Buybacks' policy supports rules-based changes. This is illogical - if you don't support buybacks due to the economic impacts on regional communities, you cannot support rules changes that ultimately deliver the same outcome."
"2026 is one of the most consequential years in water reform in more than 30 years. We cannot afford further untested, uncompensated policy changes. The top priority should be supporting our irrigation industry, which is among the most efficient and highly regulated in the world," said Dr Hartley.
