The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal of New South Wales’s final Water Administration Ministerial Corporation (WAMC) pricing determination will add more costs to farm budgets, with a 5% plus CPI annual increase in water licensing fees announced for the next four years.
Member for Murray, Helen Dalton, says while considerably less than the 15% initially requested by WAMC, it’s yet another cost for water users in NSW to contend with.
The local member says the New South Wales Irrigators Council has been a vocal critic of the current water pricing model and strongly rejected the initial 15% funding increase that WAMC proposed.
Water fees continue to drive affordability concerns for many water users who do not have the financial capacity to absorb higher charges.
“This price hike comes on top of IPART’s previous decision to increase WaterNSW costs by an average of 8.3% across valleys. It adds further pressure on irrigators, who are already contending with rising input costs like energy and fertiliser”, said NSWIC CEO, Dr. Madeleine Hartley.
For the NSWIC full Media Release follow the link: https://www.nswic.org.au/media_release/water-fees-continue-to-rise-despite-reprieve-from-ipart
