Satellite imagery reveals extent of illegal water take on farm

Satellite technology which measured the rise and fall of water in a dam played an important role in the latest prosecution by the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR).

A Brewarrina farmer pleaded guilty and faces fines of more than $57,000, and a further $135,000 in court costs, for breaching the conditions of their water licence, and illegally pumping at least 734ML of water while a water meter was not working.

NRAR Chief Regulatory Officer Grant Barnes said it was crucial that landholders knew the rules around their water access licence and abided by them.

“Accurate measurement of how much water is being taken is fundamental to public confidence in the fair and efficient management of water in NSW,” Mr Barnes said.

“The landholder admitted to pumping water for about one and half weeks without measuring their water take.”

“We then used satellite imagery to show how an almost empty irrigation dam had been refilled and emptied into crops via a canal during the period in question. This gave us a more accurate picture, and evidence, of what happened on the ground,” he said.

The case was presided over by her Honour Justice Pepper in the NSW Land and Environment Court

Her Honour said the landholder's offending conduct had compromised the accuracy of the metering system for the water source, had caused actual harm to the regulatory regime and had undermined public trust in the water management system.

Justice Pepper also said it was the responsibility of the water licence holder to "refrain from taking water until he was satisfied that the water was being taken in accordance with the Water Access Licence."

The Court ordered that the offences be published in digital and print news publications.

Read the full judgment here.