IRRIGATORS in the Peel Valley are hopeful their water allocations will continue to increase now that monthly reviews have started, after they went more than 18 months without access to Peel River water.
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Hay farmer Stuart Garland has a property on the Peel at Piallamore, and said he had been reduced to 30 per cent of his cropping ability - and 30 per cent of his income - when the water was cut off in July 2019.
Now, the state government is assessing how much of the precious resource is floating around in the valley - in tributaries, Chaffey Dam, and the river - on a monthly basis, with the possibility of increasing the allocation to general security license holders if weather conditions stay wet.
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In January, the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) gave a 16 per cent allocation to Peel Valley irrigators.
"That 16 per cent has given me the confidence to increase cropping up to 66 per cent of my farm, it's given me the confidence to do that so hopefully it rains more and the dam will rise and the allocation will increase again," Mr Garland told the Leader.
A spokesperson for the DPIE confirmed to the Leader the monthly assessment takes into account usage and river flows, as well as the storage level at Chaffey Dam to make an allocation announcement about how the available resource is shared across all water needs.
Assessments increase to monthly
The assessments were upped to monthly reviews due to "changing weather patterns" in the area, after heavy rain soaked in the past few months.
It's understood the water sharing plan for the Peel lays down the law for how the assessments are carried out, but doesn't specify any exact trigger levels or numbers for what allocations should be put in place.
"The plan is very rigid but the water resource assessment outcome is variable depending on the seasonal changes," the DPIE spokesperson said.
"Water users have for many years asked us to provide them a ready reckoner - they want to know what the water allocation will be in relation to Chaffey Dam storage into the future. But we've constantly explained that it would not be reliable we can't do that because of the multitude of factors involved."
Sharing water necessary
Mr Garland said the water needed to be "shared" with people like himself and his neighbours.
"Tamworth residents are on the lowest level of restrictions ... so they are able to water their lawns, wash their cars, fill their pools," he said.
"Watering lawns and filling pools doesn't put food on the table.
"Tamworth is an agricultural town and we cannot turn our back on agriculture."
Mr Garland said he had been lucky with rainfall and his two wells, but knew irrigators in the Woolomin and Dungowan areas who have had no water for a year-and-a-half.
"I would love more, but it is great to see some allocation," he said.
The spokesperson for the DPIE said the the amount of water needed for the Tamworth town supply to get through the next "water year" had already been secured, in accordance with the water sharing plan.
When irrigators "order" water from Chaffey Dam, it doesn't accurately reflect how much water the supply might be losing to general security holders, the DPIE spokesperson explained.
"If we can meet a water order from the unregulated downstream tributaries, that's a better outcome for water availability than having to release it from Chaffey Dam," the spokesperson said.
The next water allocation review is scheduled to be released on February 9.
Police and crime reporter at the Newcastle Herald.
Police and crime reporter at the Newcastle Herald.
