Guy Barnett,Minister for Primary Industries and Water
Access to reliable water is a strategic advantage for agriculture and Tasmanians are being invited to have their say on how our valuable rural water resources are used in the coming decades.
The Rural Water Use Strategy, due for completion in early 2021, will guide the State’s future water management arrangements to ensure integrated, fair and efficient regulation of our water resources.
The Tasmanian Government recognizes the importance and value of water. Tasmania represents 1 per cent of Australia’s land mass but has around 12 per cent of the nation’s fresh water supply and 27 per cent of Australia’s freshwater dam storage capacity.
The Rural Water Use Strategy will ensure sustainable outcomes for irrigators, rural communities and the environment and maintain Tasmania’s competitive advantages in a changing climate.
From today, the public has the opportunity to provide feedback on the Rural Water Use Strategy Position Paper.
Extensive consultation has already been undertaken with more than 20 key stakeholders, including Hydro Tasmania, TasWater, Tasmanian Irrigation and the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association.
The Position Paper aims to gain feedback from the general public, provides a summary of the key successes, identifies challenges and also provides an overview of proposals that may be included in the Rural Water Use Strategy.
The sustainable development of our water resources has the potential to greatly increase opportunities in irrigated agriculture in Tasmania helping to deliver the Tasmanian Liberal Government’s plan to grow the value of Tasmanian agricultural production to $10 billion by 2050.
Public comment on the Rural Water Use Strategy Position Paper is open until 5pm on Friday 26 June 2020 and can be viewed on the DPIPWE website: https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/water/water-legislation-policies-and-strategies/rural-water-use-strategy
