The South Australian Government has announced that South Australian irrigators will begin the 2012-13 water year with 100 of their allocations.

 

State Minister for Water Paul Caica said the announcement will give irrigators and other water users the certainty required to make important business decisions for the coming year. The full allocations are in stark contrast to the drought period, which saw the season opening with as little as 2 per cent of the allocation.

 

“Over the past four months, there has been a sequence of substantial rainfall events across the Murray-Darling Basin,’’ Mr Caica said.

 

“This 100 per cent opening allocation is due to the high volume of water in upstream storages and confirmation by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority that South Australia will receive its full 1,850 gigalitre entitlement flow during 2012-13. It is the second successive year that our irrigators have started the water year on a full allocation.”

 

“This further emphasises the importance of the State Government’s preparedness to take all actions necessary to ensure we get a strong Basin Plan that is not only capable of restoring the Basin to a sustainable level of health, but which also underpins the security of all water entitlement holders.”

 

Mr Caica said the new carryover policy, developed in consultation with irrigators and other waters users, is operational from 2012-13.

 

“Given the current conditions, South Australia is prevented from deferring and storing entitlement flow for carryover under the Murray Darling Basin Agreement, therefore there will be no ability to carryover water into the 2012-13 water year,’’ he said.