12th January 2007Water Commission gave all clear to Warrego irrigation
Australia
Friday, 12 January 2007 
The National Water Commission has endorsed the management of water in Queensland, including management plans for the Warrego River, according to the State’s Acting Water Minister, Paul Lucas.
The claim comes after Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Water, Malcolm Turnbull, this week asked the NWC to investigate Queensland’s plans to grant new irrigation licences on the Warrego River at a time of such water shortages.
A FarmOnline poll this week found more than 86pc of respondants were against the new allocations being granted.
But Mr Lucas says a 2005 report by the Commission states “Queensland’s activities for addressing water planning and allocation … are consistent with the National Water Initiative”.
“Malcolm Turnbull’s misinformed calls for an investigation into Queensland’s Warrego water allocation have left him with egg on his face,” Mr Lucas said.
“If the Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Water had done his homework he would have discovered this allocation was identified in 2003 and that the Commonwealth Government had been aware of it since this time.”
Mr Lucas says the Queensland Government is fiercely committed to the responsible management of water supplies, and that the Warrego allocation can only be accessed under the strict conditions that it has no detriment to the end-of-system flow.
“Even after this allocation [it] will be at 89pc, one of the highest rates in the Basin,” Mr Lucas said.
Of the total water taken from the Murray-Darling Basin, Queensland takes 5pc, in comparison to NSW’s 55pc, Victoria’s 34pc and South Australia’s 6pc.
* The report Mr Lucas refers to is available from the NWC website.
SOURCE: Queensland Country Life, weekly rural newspaper.
