(1) A person incurs no
civil liability for an honest act or omission in the exercise or discharge, or
purported exercise or discharge, by the person or by the trust,
board of management or committee of which he or she is a member, of a power,
function or duty under this Act.
(2) Subject to
subsections (3) and (4), a liability that would but for
subsection (1), lie against the person referred to in that subsection,
lies instead against the trust.
(3) The trust is not
liable for loss or damage caused by, or resulting from—
(a)
rises or falls in the water level in the watercourse, aquifer or other source
from which it takes water for irrigation purposes or in the watercourse, lake,
lagoon, swamp, marsh or aquifer into which it drains water; or
(b) the
escape of water from the irrigation or drainage system provided by the trust
except where the trust knew, or should have known, that water was escaping or
was likely to escape and failed, without reasonable excuse, to prevent the
escape; or
(c) the
trust's failure to supply water in accordance with this Act if the failure was
caused by a break down in the irrigation system provided by the trust, except
where the trust knew, or should have known, of the break down, or the
likelihood of the break down occurring, and failed, without reasonable excuse,
to rectify or prevent it.
(4) The trust is not
liable for loss or damage caused by, or resulting from, any action—
(a) to
meet any duty or other requirement under the Natural Resources Management
Act 2004 (including a licence under that Act) or the
River Murray Act 2003 ; or
(b) to
further the objects of the River Murray Act 2003 or the Objectives for a
Healthy River Murray under that Act.