> Northern Region Sustainable
Water Strategy
The draft Northern Victorian Sustainable Water Strategy was released on Friday, October 10 by the Minister for Water, Tim Holding.
The draft strategy contains more than 50 proposals designed to clarify all water users’ rights to water and increase flexibility to manage risk through the uncertainty of climate change and drought.
The proposals, which have been released for public comment, include:
- Mechanisms to ensure towns and cities in northern Victoria would not run out of water, however minimising the social impacts of severe water restrictions through opening up water trade and carryover
- Making sure the irrigation distribution system can run every year, and reducing the risk of zero allocations for irrigators through changing the system reserve policy
- Advocating a three phase management approach to make sure rivers and wetlands can survive dry years and recover during average and wetter years
- Bolstering tools such as carryover and trade so individual entitlement holders, including the environment, can manage their own risk
- Clarifying rights to water, particularly during droughts
The draft strategy has been developed following several months’ of consultation between water authorities, catchment management authorities, interest groups and government departments. It seeks a balance for all water users to manage their own risk, have more flexibility and choice, be efficient with water and have confidence in their water rights, in a future which may contain less rainfall.
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Submissions to the draft strategy are due in by 12 December 2009, and will be considered before the government releases the final Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy in 2009.
The final strategy will set the blueprint for northern Victoria’s water resources for the next 50 years, and will be the Region’s response to the uncertainty of climate change and drought.
In January 2008 the Minister for Water, Tim Holding launched the consultation process for developing the Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy by releasing a discussion paper that describes future challenges to water supplies and identifies a range of possible measures to face these challenges.
The strategy will guide future planning to secure water supplies for households, industry, farmers and rives over the next 50 years.
Written submissions to the draft Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy are due by 12 December 2008 with the Final Strategy to be released in 2009.
To go to the DSE website for a copy of the strategy
> click here To download the Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy fact sheets click on the following links:
1 - Having a say
2 - What are we planning for
3 - What are we proposing
4 - Sharing the River Murray
5 - Protecting the environment
6 - More choice for water users
7 - Groundwater and upper catchment water users
To go back to all Water Security Plans
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