Plan provides security and flexibility for Whitsunday water users
12 December 2011
A new plan providing increased water security and more flexible arrangements for water users in the Whitsundays has been released by the Queensland Government.
Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) Deputy Director-General Debbie Best said the Whitsunday Resource Operations Plan (ROP) implemented the strategies of the Water Resource (Whitsunday) Plan 2010 and established sustainable day-to-day management of water in the area.
“The Whitsunday ROP delivers on the Queensland’s Government’s commitments under the national water reform agenda by establishing 174 tradeable water allocations for the Proserpine River Water Supply Scheme,” Ms Best said.
“These tradeable water allocations, which total more than 62,800 megalitres, can be traded separately from the land title on a permanent or seasonal basis within the rules set under the plan.
“Medium priority water users in the Proserpine River Supply Scheme will be able to carry over the unused part of their entitlement from one water year to the next.
“Landholders will also enjoy greater flexibility to trade water with more options to sell part of their water allocation to landholders who might wish to acquire additional water.”
Ms Best said the increase in water trading flexibility was a key part of the Queensland Government’s commitment to the national water reform agenda.
“A safety net has also been created through this plan by establishing a process to release and grant water from a 30,000 megalitre reserve of unallocated water,” Ms Best said.
“The plan provides for the finalisation of arrangements for overland flow water and groundwater in the plan area and for dealing with water licence applications.
Ms Best said provisions relating to the management of unsupplemented entitlements in the Andromache River and O’Connell River sub-catchments have been deferred to allow more time for their consideration.
“Provisions in the draft ROP relating to unsupplemented water entitlements in the Andromache and O’Connell river sub-catchments have been deferred following extensive community consultation,” Ms Best said.
“After the draft ROP was released in November last year, concerns were raised about those provisions in submissions from Proserpine Canegrowers and in further consultation with them.
“We have listened to these concerns and believe that a better planning outcome may be achieved by allowing additional time for DERM to work through these concerns with affected water users.”
Ms Best said there was no reason to put the finalisation of the Whitsunday ROP on hold while the deferred provisions were given further consideration.
“All submissions received on the draft ROP were considered in finalising the plan and I would like to thank everyone who took the time to make a submission.
“Their efforts were vital to developing a plan to strike the right balance between the needs of a growing community and the environment.”
The final amended Whitsunday Resource Operations Plan and a consultation report outlining how submissions were considered in finalising the plan are now available on the DERM website at www.derm.qld.gov.au or by phoning DERM’s Mackay Business Centre on (07) 4999 6820.
Last updated 12 December 2011