22nd January 2007Water meters to cost Qld irrigators $55 million
Australia
Monday, 22 January 2007 
Queensland irrigators are about to be charged $55 million to pay for infrastructure they will never actually own, according to AgForce Queensland Water spokesperson, Ian Burnett.
“And to make matters worse, once irrigators have bought and installed water meters on their properties, they will then pay $600 or more per meter per year for a government employee to collect the data from them,” Mr Burnett said.
AgForce believes water metering makes sense as it allows for more accurate data on water use to be collected, which would lead to better decision making by irrigators and government.
“However, given irrigators use only 4pc of the State’s water, surely this is a cost which should not be borne by irrigators alone,” Mr Burnett said.
“And worse, we are in our sixth year of drought and it is not a time to be ripping $55m out of the bush.
“Individual irrigators will be paying up to $20,000 per licence to install the meters.”
Mr Burnett says the Department of Natural Resources and Water last week took the first major step toward implementing water metering across the state, by holding a public meeting in the Condamine catchment.
“Both the State and Federal governments have so far ignored an AgForce proposal for a joint funding arrangement similar to the Great Artesian Basin Sustainability Initiative,” he said.
“Under the GABSI program costs are shared 30:70 between irrigators and the State and Federal governments.
“This is a fair and equitable system given the data collected from these meters will benefit the entire community, not just irrigators.”
SOURCE: Queensland Country Life, weekly rural newspaper
