It followed an earlier meeting of the National Drought Group where we described to government agencies how growers are swiftly running out of water for fruit and vegetable production as they use up their annual abstraction volumes.
As discussions continue about the possible application of short term, emergency licensing flexibility for the remainder of the irrigation season, some of the accepted principles are that arrangements must:
- Reflect the urgency of the situation, with decisions needed in days not weeks
- Protect the environment and other water users, so ‘blanket’ industry-wide derogations will not be available
- Include options such as the fast-track trading of groundwater without the consents, tests and investigations usually required may be feasible in catchments where water levels are ‘normal’ even though growers have used up their permitted annual allocations.