Tasmanian Irrigation has encouraged its irrigators and key stakeholders not to miss the deadline for providing feedback on the draft process and documents required to implement community management of publicly owned irrigation schemes.

In December 2023, the Tasmanian State Parliament passed the Water Miscellaneous Amendments (Delegation and Industrial Water Supply) ACT 2023 (WMA Act) into law. The WMA Act amends existing legislation relevant to Tasmanian Irrigation, to enable the Tasmanian Government’s policy to facilitate community management of publicly owned irrigation schemes, where feasible and appropriate.

“In practical terms, these changes mean that Tasmanian Irrigation can delegate some of its powers and functions to irrigator groups if they meet the required criteria,” said Tasmanian Irrigation CEO Andrew Kneebone.

“Tasmanian Irrigation supports community management of publicly owned irrigation schemes where it makes sense. We are always looking for efficiencies in how we operate schemes, and if there’s a more efficient way for irrigators to access the schemes, we support that.”

During May, Tasmanian Irrigation held a series of face-to-face and online consultation sessions with irrigators and stakeholders across the state. This was the first stage of the consultation on potential community management of publicly owned irrigation schemes.

“During these sessions, we discussed the implications of the legislative changes, and outlined what powers and functions can and cannot be delegated,” Mr Kneebone said.

“We also shared draft documents that set out the process for irrigator groups to apply for delegation. Feedback from this first stage of consultation will be considered as we finalise these documents, which are central to enabling powers and functions to be delegated.

“We are looking for input from our customers and key stakeholders to help us develop fit-for-purpose processes and documentation. There’s a lot of detail to work through, which is why we’ve held consultation sessions with irrigators to help us refine the process so it works for everyone.”

Feedback on the draft process and documents closes this Friday, 21 June. More information is available here