CICL Update October 2022
Dear Members,
This newsletter provides Members with an update on key water issues affecting CICL and its Members’ businesses.
In this month's newsletter -
WATER OPERATIONS UPDATE
Delivery capacity and capacity sharing
ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE UPDATE
STAFF PROFILES
EXTERNAL ISSUES
Department of Planning & Environment Allocation announcement
04/10/22
High Security 95%
General Security 50%
Groundwater 100% (Lower Murrumbidgee)
CICL announcement and offer
Member Benefit 10%
Waterways
P: 1300 850 105
Water statements are available on Waterways but its Water Ordering functions are currently switched off.
The WaterMart platform can be accessed here.
The WaterMart temporary water trading platform commenced operation for the 2022/23 water year on Friday 1 July 2022.
If you would like to discuss how to register, please contact Therese Chauncy on T: 02 6954 4003 or E:ea@colyirr.com.au
Inter-valley trade
Up-to-date information on the IVT is here.
You can register for WaterNSW IVT alerts here.
CICL Director Election
Coleambally Irrigation Co-operative Limited (CICL) received three nominations for the member director vacancy. An election via postal ballot is being conducted with the ballot closing at 12 noon Tuesday 25 October.
The successful candidate will be announced at the 2022 Annual General Meeting (AGM) and will commence their three-year term of office effective at the conclusion of the AGM.
CICL AGM
The twenty third AGM of members of CICL will be held at the Coleambally Community Club, 3 Falcon Road, Coleambally, on Thursday 27 October 2022 starting at 9:00 am.
For the first time the 2022 AGM will provide members the opportunity to attend in person or to participate on-line. The on-line platform, provided by Redback Connect, will be open from 8.30am on 27 October.
If you require technical assistance to join, or at any time during the meeting, please contact Redback Connects’ Support Team on T: 1800 733 416.
Voting members that wish to participate in the AGM on-line should use their registered email address via this link
https://kapara.rdbk.com.au/landers/30d214.html.
To confirm your registered email address please contact the Executive Assistant on T: 02 6954 4003.
Members who are not voting members can also join the meeting via the same link using the following email address AGM@colyirr.com.au.
Grant Latta Bonded Scholarship
CICL, in conjunction with the Country Education Foundation, is pleased to offer the Grant Latta Bonded Scholarship. This scholarship is open to students who have lived or attended secondary school in Coleambally, Darlington Point, Griffith, Leeton, Narrandera, Yanco, Jerilderie, Finley, Edward River, Hay, and Hillston. Applicants who are studying, or intend to study, either an engineering or IT degree are eligible to apply. Applications close on Friday 25 November 2022. More information and details of how to apply are here.
Water availibility update
Thank you to our customers who attended the presentation by the Department of Planning and Environment in August. The presentation by Deep Singh, Senior Hydrologist, was excellent and included a clear explanation of the reasons for the slow improvements in the announced general security allocation in the Murrumbidgee. The presentation can be accessed here.
Guide to permanent trade
CICL has recently published a guide to permanent trade. The guide is intended to assist interested parties understand their options and what is involved when undertaking a permanent trade of water entitlements, delivery entitlements, shares, or a change of ownership of land (including associated infrastructure) in the CICL area of operations. It can be found here.
Water orders
Irrigation demand has been low since the start of the season due to the ongoing wet conditions. As the weather warms up and you are thinking about irrigating, please place water orders with as much prior notice as possible to assist us in forecasting the seven-day advance water order from the river.
Crop form
Before a water order can be placed, customers are required to complete a crop form with intended crop areas per farm.
The crop form is available on our website here or from reception, and the completed form can be submitted via email to enquiries@colyirr.com.au or in person at reception.
To assist us with calculation of our advance order, once your summer crop areas are known, please update/correct the area and crop type for each farm by contacting Water Operations via Reception on T: 02 6954 4003 or after hours on M: 0427 544 269.
Customer communication form
If your contact details have changed please update your details by completing the customer communication form here. By keeping your contact details current you will receive important information from CICL.
When completing the address please use your Farm Number, street address and PO Box (if applicable). Do not use the emergency contact address.
Delivery capacity and capacity sharing
Customers are encouraged to understand CICL’s approach to managing delivery restrictions and constraints and the differences between a delivery restriction and a constraint.
Key points to be aware of which should be used to assist your irrigation planning are:
CICL’s modelled minimum service standard is 14/ML/day per 1,400 Delivery Entitlements (DE).
A capacity constraint is where customers’ demand exceeds the design flow rate.
A restriction is where daily orders exceed the flow rate available but not the design flow rate.
CICL has tier one and tier two DE.
Tier one DE has access to daily flow share when there is a capacity constraint. Tier two does not.
In the event of a constraint the available flow is shared between active orders (per farm or per SFU) for tier one DE.
In the event of a restriction the available flow is shared between active orders (per farm or per SFU) for tier one and tier two DE.
CICL has three fact sheets which explain delivery entitlements and our approach to managing restrictions. The fact sheets are on our website and can be found here
Water use intensity policy
Customers are advised that total farm water use (including on-farm bores) should not exceed 8ML/ha for the current season unless they have entered into Water Use Agreements with CICL. These agreements allow for averaging water use between unconnected farms and exempting farms from water use limits for horticulture, permanent plantings, and other approved primary industries. Customers must make an application in writing to CICL for a Water Use Agreement and the Agreement must be finalised before the mid-December allocation announcement for the Agreement to apply for the current season. Please contact Keith Thompson via reception on T: 02 6954 4003 for further information.
Drainage water
Customers are advised that draining water contaminated with pesticides, at a level above the EPA notification level, into the CICL drainage system is a breach of CICL’s Rules. As part of routine compliance monitoring for our Environmental Protection Licence, CICL staff regularly monitor the drainage network and sample water from drainage outlets. If you are unsure of the quality of on-farm water you wish to drain, customers may request on-farm water testing. If you have accidently released contaminated water into the drainage system, please contact either Mark Robb on M: 0427 544 361 or Keith Thompson on M: 0439 084 569.
Metolachlor
Any customers who are intending to use the herbicide Metolachlor on their property this season are reminded that they are required to register their details by contacting CICL via reception at their earliest convenience. This measure will assist CICL staff in responding to any potential pollution incident in an appropriate and timely manner.
Aerial pesticide application
There has been a further incident of off target/spray drift onto sensitive areas such as remnant native vegetation across the CIA. Customers and their contractors are reminded that such acts are illegal and could be construed as negligent by the EPA and consequently have the potential for prosecution.
Staff profile-Jac Marks
Introducing Jac Marks
How long have your worked for CICL and what is your role? -I started work with CICL in May 2022, almost five months ago. I will be a Receptionist /Finance Officer.
What were you doing before you joined CICL? - Prior to CICL I lived in Canberra and was the Manager of a team in the ACT Government providing business support to other teams and creating policies and procedures within the RTA.
What does your job entail? - Currently I am training to learn the ropes on reception and assisting Alison in finance as much as possible.
What is a common question you get at work? - As I am still new, I am usually asking all the questions.
What do you like to do when you are not working? -I like spending time with family and going to the river with my partner.
What is your favourite quote? “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn” – Benjamin Franklin
Staff profile-Caitlyn Edwards
Introducing Caitlin Edwards
How long have your worked for CICL and what is your role? - Three months as a Water System Operator.
What were you doing before you joined CICL? - I was a child and maternal health worker for 10 years.
What does your job entail? - Monitoring and performing total channel control of CICL’s delivery system.
What is a common question you get from customers/members and staff? - Are there many orders today?
What do you like to do when you are not working? - Spending time with my kids.
What is your favourite quote? - Always enjoy life.
Murray-Darling Basin Plan headwinds
The election of a Federal Labor Government has focussed attention on what is required to finalise the Murray-Darling Basin Plan (the Plan). Labor is learning quickly that its election commitment to deliver on water commitments, including the 450GL for South Australia[1], is a significant challenge.
NSWIC recently produced an excellent report which highlights the scale of the task and the impact on the consumptive pool of trying to shift 450GL out of the productive pool to the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder. The report can be found here.
Communities and irrigators in the Murray-Darling Basin Plan should be frustrated that the warning signs of slow progress and withdrawal of key projects designed to reduce the impact of the Basin Plan on communities have either not progressed or will not be complete by the legislative deadlines. Irrigators in the southern Basin face the real prospect of lower sustainable diversion limits in each catchment because instead of delivering 605GL of “offsets” a much lower number is likely.
CICL’s view is that further water recovery from the consumptive pool will harm communities and irrigated agriculture. It is time for both the state and commonwealth governments to strengthen their focus on projects that deliver on the Basin Plan outcomes without shrinking the consumptive pool. This should be governments’ priority, not the simple solution of further water recovery.
The first Ministerial Council meeting in over 12 months is planned for this week. The last statement from the Ministerial Council was in April 2021, 19 months ago. If the Ministerial Council meeting goes ahead as planned, none of the Ministers who participated in the April statement still hold their positions as Ministers.
CICL continues to argue against further reductions in the consumptive pool. We have been advocating to our elected leaders and government officials responsible for decisions the need to work collaboratively to resolve these complex and contested issues with a focus on avoiding harm to either communities or the environment.
[1] Taken from Labor’s five-point plan to safeguard the Murray-Darling Basin May 2022.
Groundwater users December one deadline looms
Thursday December one is the due date for groundwater users to comply with the NSW Water non-urban water metering requirements. Information on the steps you need to take to comply can be found here.
The Natural Resource Access Regulator (NRAR) expects all water users to have at least entered a formal arrangement with a meter installer before their compliance deadline. Ensure you save invoices and record correspondence for any materials (pumps, meters, LIDs) or services you have procured, such as a Duly Qualified Person, to demonstrate that you are on the pathway to compliance.
Floodplain harvesting and rainfall run-off regulations
CICL is pleased the NSW Upper House chose not to “disallow” the regulation made by the government which exempts rainfall run-off into irrigation tail water systems from requiring a meter and a works approval. This regulation protects every irrigator practicing “best management practices” and capturing irrigation run-off in their tail water systems.
This regulation also supports implementation and enforcement of the NSW Floodplain Harvesting Measurement Policy.
Barmah-Millewa Feasibility Study
The Murray-Darling Basin Authority is completing a feasibility study to identify options to address the progressive decline in the capacity of the Barmah Choke.
One of the options being considered involves changes to Snowy releases. Releasing some of the Snowy Murray Required Annual Release into the Murrumbidgee storages and then delivering this water via the Murrumbidgee to the River Murray is being investigated.
CICL have met with the project team preparing a report for the Murray-Darling Ministerial Council and have been assured that a key principle for any solution is that it does not impact negatively on entitlement holders or the environment.
CICL has raised concerns that the Snowy option could exacerbate issues already faced in the Murrumbidgee. These include Tumut River capacity, Tumut River stream bank stability, increased risk of storage imbalances, additional losses associated with delivery of water from the Murrumbidgee, potential for congestion issues between consumptive demand, intervalley deliveries and environmental water use, and further spills of Snowy resource from Blowering Dam.
The MDBA is due to complete their report by December 2022.
RGA Water Trade Toolkit
The RGA has published a revised Water Tool Kit to provide irrigators with information to improve their knowledge of, and access to, water information. This publication is a great resource which pulls together information important to irrigators’ planning decisions and water trading strategies for the Murrumbidgee and NSW Murray. You can find the Toolkit here.
One-Basin Co-operative Research Centre (CRC)
CICL is excited to be part of the successful One-Basin CRC application for funding. The CRC has received a $50M grant and secured funding for 10 years. CICL is contributing as a Tier Three partner.
The One-Basin CRC is a focused collaboration developing policy, technical and financial solutions to support and reduce exposure to climate, water, and environmental threats in the Murray-Darling Basin. More information is available here.
Conclusion
For the first time CICL is providing members with an opportunity to attend the AGM “virtually” with an on-line option facilitated by Redback Connects. CICL hopes having this option will be convenient and efficient for members’ farm business operations.
If you need to confirm if CICL has your correct email, please contact our Executive Assistant.
I encourage all members to participate in our AGM either by attendance in person or on-line. The 2022 AGM will be Keith Burge’s last AGM as a member director, with Keith’s nine years (three terms) concluding at the AGM.
I thank Keith for his valuable contribution to CICL.
As noted earlier in the newsletter, the results of the postal ballot for a member director will be announced at the AGM and I thank each of the candidates who nominated for the vacancy.
I also draw your attention to the Grant Latta Bonded Scholarship which presents an opportunity for either engineering or IT students to receive valuable financial assistance with tertiary studies as well as paid vacation work and a secure job following completion of their studies.
If you know of anyone who may be eligible to apply, please pass on the details to them.
I look forward to reporting to members on CICL’s 2021/22 year at our AGM on Thursday 27 October.
Clifford Ashby
CEO
