Review of prices for the Water Administration Ministerial Corporation

6 Price Structure
6.6.1 Stakeholder comments on tariffs for special category licences
The NSW Irrigators’ Council argued that:
as per the current determination, supplementary water entitlement should be
subject to a usage charge only
once issued, floodplain harvesting licences ought to be charged at the same level
and in the same manner as any other entitlement.
In addition, in response to the Issues Paper the Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association,
Namoi Water, and Lachlan Valley Water pointed out that the 2006 Determination did
not recognise the intention of supplementary groundwater access licences. These
licences were issued by NOW in relation to groundwater in the Gwydir, Macquarie,
Lachlan, Murrumbidgee, Murray and Namoi Valleys, as an administrative vehicle
for structural adjustment. They facilitate a transition from the licensee’s historical
levels of extraction to sustainable levels by 2017. NOW does this by issuing a licence
for a specific entitlement value (the historic level) and then adjusting theses values
downwards annually via the gazettal of Available Water Determinations (AWDs).
However, stakeholders have noted that unless the tariff is set with reference to the
entitlement as adjusted by the AWD, users will be overcharged (relative to the
intention of the structural adjustment). NOW has confirmed the logic of
stakeholders’ proposal.
IPART’s Draft Determination sought to achieve this objective for supplementary
groundwater entitlement holders. In response to the Draft Determination, the
Gwydir Valley Irrigators’ Association 104 (GVIA) suggested an improvement to the
phrasing of the Determination to better realise this objective. We have accepted this
suggestion.
6.6.2 IPART’s analysis on tariffs for special category licences
We have set the following prices for special category licences:
Supplementary Water (regulated rivers) – holders of supplementary water
licences on regulated rivers will pay the usage price under the 2-part tariff. This is
consistent with the 2006 Determination and the 2010 State Water Determination.
High Flow licences (unregulated rivers) – holders of high flow licences in
unregulated rivers will pay the minimum bill. NOW has advised that of the
existing 22 High Flow licences in unregulated rivers, only 1 has been given a
volume entitlement and none are currently metered. 105 Therefore, for reasons of
practicality, we consider that these licences should be subject to the minimum bill.
104 Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association submission, 30 November 2010.
105 Correspondence from NOW to IPART, 29 April 2010 and 27 August 2010.
Review of prices for the Water Administration Ministerial Corporation IPART 105