I WAS privileged recently to work with the farmers downstream of the Winburndale Dam as they sought to obtain their fair share of water from the Winburndale Rivulet.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Together, we were able to determine that the volume of water released downstream from the dam, particularly during the 2017-2020 drought, was insufficient to maintain the health of the rivulet and most likely caused the once robust platypus population to become locally extinct, not to mention also pushing hundreds of other river species to the brink, including the Rakali (native water rat).
This was in spite of the fact that water continued to flow into the Winburndale Dam throughout the drought and the dam usually being 70 per cent full.
READ ALSO:
Not many councils can claim to have sent locally extinct an iconic Australian animal such as the platypus, and one likely soon to be classed as endangered.
This is a shameful state of affairs that can be directly laid at the feet of Bathurst Regional Council's failure to comply with their licence conditions re the volume of water needed from the dam to maintain environmental flows and the riparian rights of landholders.
Not many councils within the Murray-Darling Basin have failed to join the Murray-Darling Basin Association that seeks to facilitate the optimal use of basin water.
Bathurst Regional Council has not joined and in so doing, thumbed its nose at being a good corporate citizen.
Being called out for a substantial licence breach by the water umpire is tantamount to a charge of misappropriating water.
Irrigators are fined substantial amounts of money for such breaches.
Rather than demonstrate any remorse, Bathurst Regional Council has taken the matter to court at substantial cost to the ratepayer, based on a very flawed environmental assessment and an appalling freshwater study, seeking to change its licence conditions.
As one farmer commented, that is like a citizen getting a speeding ticket and then taking the police to court to have the speed limit changed!
We await with interest the final decision of the water regulator.
In the meantime, Bathurst Regional Council and councillors should be ashamed at this avoidable turn of events.
