From The Land
GROUNDWATER irrigators are fuming that their industry is again under scrutiny.
Federal Water Minister Penny Wong a week ago turned her sights on the sector following a report by the CSIRO released late last year that said extraction in seven NSW and Queensland areas was “unsustainable”.
“In Australia’s water management, groundwater has often been overlooked,” Senator Wong said.
Groundwater irrigators in parts of the State have already sustained cuts of as much as 81 per cent and millions of dollars of compensation is still unpaid.
Namoi Water executive officer, John Clements, challenged the CSIRO report and hit back at the senator’s comment that groundwater use still had to change.
“We were told legally that we were at sustainable yields in 2006 and the Commonwealth were heavily involved in that,” Mr Clements said