South Australian Numbered Acts South Australian Numbered Acts5—Amendment of section 76—Preparation of water allocation plans
Section 76—after subsection (8) insert:
(9) A water allocation plan may, in connection with the management of a prescribed water resource—
(a) set out or identify appropriate principles and methodologies to determine the impact that commercial forests may have on the prescribed water resource and, on the basis of those principles and methodologies, specify hydrological values, as measurements of hydrological impact, that may be assigned to various classes of commercial forest; and
(b) designate commercial forests, or commercial forests of a specified class or classes, within a defined area as commercial forests that, on account of assessments undertaken by the regional NRM board, have been identified as being appropriate to bring within the ambit of Part 5A Division 2 of Chapter 7 on account of their impacts on the prescribed water resource (taking into account the requirements of that Part); and
(c) set out policies or criteria that are to apply for the purposes of determining the extent to which a water allocation under Chapter 7 Part 5A should be varied in various cases (which may include circumstances that lead to an allocation being reduced to zero).
(10) A water allocation plan may, for the purposes of subsection (9)—
(a) make different provision as to any principles, methodologies or values according to any matter or circumstance specified by the regional NRM board;
(b) specify values (as measurements of hydrological impact) according to any number of trees, volume, area, year or other factor (as determined by the regional NRM board);
(c) exclude specified forests, or forests of a specified class, from a designation under subsection (9)(b) (so as to exclude them from the operation of Chapter 7 Part 5A Division 2).
(11) A designation under subsection (9)(b) may be made on the basis of an assessment of hydrological impacts that the commercial forests are having, or may be expected to have, on the prescribed water resource.
(12) A summary of the assessments undertaken for the purposes of subsection (9)(b) must be included in the water allocation plan.
(13) For the purposes of subsections (9) and (10), hydrological impacts may be determined according to an assessment by the regional NRM board of 1 or more of the following:
(a) groundwater recharge reduction;
(b) surface water run off reduction;
(c) direct extraction from aquifers;
(d) any impact prescribed by the regulations.
(14) To avoid doubt, a water allocation plan may make provision under subsection (9) in relation to 1 or more commercial forests despite the fact that the commercial forest or commercial forests have not been the subject of a notice under section 125(5a).