Community management of irrigation schemes – what does it look like in practice?

Throughout May 2024, Tasmanian Irrigation conducted a series of community consultation sessions with irrigators statewide. These were designed to ensure that all key stakeholders were well informed and had the opportunity to voice their opinions regarding changes to Tasmanian law that enable community management of publicly funded irrigation schemes.

Ninety-eight people attended the meetings, and I want to thank each of them for their respectful participation and attention.

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

This shift acknowledges the potential role of community in scheme management, allowing Tasmanian Irrigation to delegate select operating and management functions to eligible groups of irrigators. But the WMA Act doesn’t allow wholesale transfer of responsibilities. Certain powers and functions cannot be delegated, and the Act does not facilitate the sale of publicly owned assets, or the transfer of the Responsible Water Entity status.

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Tasmanian Irrigation will remain the asset owner and Responsible Water Entity and we will continue to be ultimately responsible for a scheme’s performance over its design life and for environmental and other compliance obligations. These are responsibilities we cannot transfer.

So, it follows that delegation of powers and functions will not result in total autonomy for irrigator groups; those groups that apply to take on management responsibilities will work in collaboration with Tasmanian Irrigation to ensure that positive outcomes are achieved for the scheme and for its irrigators.

The WMA Act requires that we must grant all valid applications for delegating powers and functions unless there’s a compelling reason not to do so. In considering applications, some of the things we are required by the WMA Act to assess include: capacity and capability to perform the functions being applied for, a robust governance model, a clear statement of the benefit to be achieved through the delegation of powers and functions, and demonstration of the support of 80% of irrigation scheme participants.

As the Responsible Water Entity, and in line with the requirements of the WMA Act, we must assess each application for delegation of powers to safeguard the public investment in schemes, as well as the interests of the Tasmanian Government, our agency, scheme participants, local communities, and the environment.

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Tasmanian Irrigation currently owns and operates 19 irrigation schemes around the state. These schemes were developed and constructed with public and private funding. A condition of public funding was that each scheme self-funds operations and ongoing maintenance, for the duration of their 100-year design life. Financial management of each of Tasmanian Irrigation’s 19 schemes is independent of all other schemes, and there is no cross-subsidisation. Any group taking on scheme management must preserve this arrangement, and cover the costs of all activities, including delegated and non-delegated tasks.

Applicants should carefully consider their capacity to fulfil the requirements of the WMA Act, and their ability to carry out the activities that they apply to manage.

There’s a wide range of possible scenarios for delegation, and what irrigators want may vary from scheme to scheme.

That’s why we’ve been undertaking a consultation process, to ensure that the intent of the WMA Act is understood and to make sure the application process and supporting documents we’ve designed are fit for purpose.

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What irrigators tell us will help shape the application process. We encourage everyone with an interest in this issue to get involved with the consultation process, and to work with us to create positive outcomes.

From the consultation we’ve undertaken so far, we know already that irrigators on some schemes are very keen to apply for delegation, while irrigators on other schemes see no benefit to them in doing so.

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.

Whether many groups of irrigators apply for community management, or only one, or none, our ongoing priority is to deliver water to our customers at the lowest sustainable cost, and to ensure irrigation infrastructure is maintained in a way that will continue to serve farming communities for decades to come.

You can find out more about the WMA Act, community management and Tasmanian Irrigation’s consultation process on their website.