The State’s independent water regulator is to take enforcement action against owners of non-compliant water pumps, following a six-month grace period since new metering regulations came into effect.
Chief Regulatory Officer at the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR), Grant Barnes said State-wide inspections by NRAR officers found 45 per cent of affected pumps were still not fitted with an accurate meter.
“A deadline of 1 December 2020 applied to all pumps 500mm and above, requiring they have accurate meters installed which are validated by a certified professional and can transmit water take to a central database,” Mr Barnes said.
“The water users who own the 45 per cent of works without accurate meters are now subject to fines and directions to install them,” he said.
“We are a firm but fair regulator.
“We understand there can be challenges on the pathway to compliance and we have taken a light-touch approach when reasonable efforts had been made.”
Mr Barnes said he was concerned that enforcement action was necessary and reiterated that there was more work to be done to ensure the accurate measurement of water take in NSW.
The Chief Regulatory Officer said that for those who ignored the rules, the NRAR’s response would become progressively more severe, up to prosecution if necessary.
Mr Barnes said the Regulator had seen an improvement in compliance rates over the past three months with most pumps 500mm and above now fully compliant, or on the pathway to compliance.
“We are encouraged to see a positive shift in the rate of full compliance recorded in April,” he said.
“We believe this positive shift is a result of our efforts to engage directly with water users,” Mr Barnes said.
