Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy released

The Minister for Water, Tim Holding, today released the Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy.

The 50 year water strategy will change northern Victoria’s reserve water system to safeguard the delivery of water to towns and agriculture even in times of drought.

Changes announced in the Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy will see more water put aside in reserve, and changes to seasonal allocation policies.

The Strategy also confirms changes to carryover rules for the coming 2010-11 season. These changes mean that entitlement holders will not miss out on allocations because of the existing 100 per cent rule, and will only lose water if the major dams physically spill.

In all, the Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy contains 52 actions and 17 policies to manage the consequences of prolonged drought and climate change in northern Victoria.

The Strategy promotes key agricultural, environmental and urban values through:

• recognising and protecting existing water entitlements to provide greater certainty;
• enhancing markets, carryover and reserve policies to increase the ability of people to manage their own risk; and
• using consumptive and environmental water more efficiently to get greater benefits from less water.

The strategy also delivers a new way to manage rivers and wetlands in times of extreme drought. 

The Strategy outlines where and when environmental water is required, and states clear objectives for its use.

Tools such as carryover, reusing return flows, and structural works will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of environmental water use.

There will also be improvements beyond the Northern Region, with the Government implementing measures across Victoria to monitor water use, including:

• registering all new domestic and stock dams in rural residential areas;
• monitoring growth in all domestic and stock use; and
• promoting sustainable use of water by developing guidelines for reasonable domestic and stock use.