20 Mar '20

The GVIA represents in excess of 450 water entitlement holders in the Gwydir Valley. The organisation works to represent the interests of our members and secure a viable future for our region through ensuring water rights are protected and water use by members, the environment and our river operators is efficient and sustainable.  We work together to build a better future for our region and make every drop count. 
Our role provides a voice for our industry and region to decision makers, our local community and the broader public. This can involve writing and commenting on policy proposals, inquiries and participating in meetings with key stakeholders including Ministers and Department staff.  We take seriously our role in improving grower research and innovation in our industry.

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1 Jan '20

Irrigators in the Gwydir Valley have had zero allocation of general security or supplementary water this year. A small limited announcement was made last week.  Any irrigated annual crops being grown this season are grown on groundwater. No general security water was permitted to be delivered this year.  Permanent plantings are supported by high security water which was delivered via bulk releases and groundwater.

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1 Nov '19

The Gwydir is characterised as having low water reliability, in the last 10-years irrigators have accessed only 19% of river inflows for General Security use and 8% for supplementary.  The majority of water held as general security water with a reliability of 36%. Supplementary water entitlement is somewhat more reliable with 55% but accounts for less than a quarter of the total volume.  There is around 40,000ML available as high security or groundwater entitlement which is considered highly reliable.
General Security water is stored in Copeton dam, derived from rainfall and river flow above the dam.
Supplementary water is unregulated flows downstream of the dam, it is only announced after environmental flows to the wetlands. After that all remaining flows are shared equally between the environment and licence holders (including environmental licence holders)

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7 Jun '18

The GVIA supports the better management of environmental water provided that all water rights are equally respected.  Environmental water holders own 28.5% of High Security entitlements, 29% of General Security including the ECA and 13% of Supplementary.  We need to better share the outcomes being achieved on environmental water and ensure these outcomes are not undermined by ignoring non-flow complementary measures. Non-flow complementary measures include things such as fish passages at weirs or riparian management. 

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28 May '18

The GVIA are disappointed with recent media reports and commentary around the management of floodplain flows and have provided the following statement and facts about the program, which was designed to incorporate this legitimate historical access into the current regulatory framework as required by legislation.    We want people to know that this is not new water and that implementing this program will have many benefits.  Most importantly it will protect the environment and users from further growth, providing certainty to all communities who rely on it. Restricting future growth will maintain and improve floodplain flows and build on Basin Plan outcomes, not detract from them.

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25 May '18

Water for irrigation is limited and the volume has been decreasing over-time due to government reforms.  WaterNSW information indicates 66% of all river flows are reserved for the environment and another 5% is actively managed by environmental water holders who have approximately 29% of regulated general security river entitlement and another 28.5% of high security entitlement has been either purchased or diverted from irrigators in the Gwydir Valley for the environment.  A further 13% of supplementary entitlement has been purchased, this is on top of the 50% share already received during each unregulated event. Unregulated events occur when there are inflows into the river below the dam. 

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