MEDIA RELEASE: South East Water Allocation Plan Consultation
The South Australian Dairyfarmers Association is encouraging all South East water licence holders to attend one of the upcoming public consultation meetings being held by the Limestone Coast Landscapes Management Board during August.
Over the coming weeks, meetings will be held at Millicent, Naracoorte, Mt Gambier and on-line, details and RSVP options are available here or from the Lower Limestone Coast Landscapes Board: 08 8429 7550, or llcwap@sa.gov.au.
This is the opportunity for water licence holders to present their views about management priorities for our precious water resource. The region accesses underground water for household water supply, community use in the parks and gardens, for irrigating crops and pastures which produce food and fibre for local consumption and export, and for plantation forestry, which amounts to 30% of the water budget. One of the agreed priorities of the plan is that all licence holders must be treated equally in every one of its many policies.
The South Australian Dairyfarmers Association is pleased to be able to participate in this review, as its members in this district produce 60% of South Australia’s milk and are able to do so largely because the water resource allows efficient production, when other regions are unable to grow forage for their dairy cows.
The ability to produce agricultural commodities “out of season” is common with all the region’s irrigators and it makes our local economy more consistent and less volatile. It is also attractive for food processors because they are assured of consistent quantity and quality of produce to manufacture products all year round.
Milk production in the South East amounts to 300 million litres and is worth in the order of $415 million to the local economy annually, not to mention the contribution of other commodities.
The dairy industry supports sustainable water policies to maintain the integrity of the resource for present and future generations. This requires insight into our unique water bearing geology which naturally discharges a large horizontal flow beneath the sea, which is in addition to the surface water which enters the sea through the drainage network.
The meetings will be an opportunity for licence holder’s to ask questions and present their views about water management.
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