SOUTHERN FORESTS IRRIGATION
SCHEME
405. Hon DIANE EVERS to the Minister for Regional Development:
I refer to the proposed southern
forests irrigation scheme.
(1) Will the
minister please table details of parties and companies that have bought into
the SFIS, including the amount of water, the contribution, the land and
intended use?
(2) How many of these are directors
of the Southern Forests Irrigation Co-operative Ltd?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the question.
(1) Southern
Forests Irrigation Co-operative Ltd led the water sales process that concluded
in March 2018. Seventy local growers entered into contracts for the supply of
water. The project budget includes a grower contribution of approximately $11 million.
The scheme will supply 9.2 gigalitres of water, providing security against
climate change for the existing horticulture industry, and an additional 1 675
hectares for new irrigated agriculture use. I will commit to providing a table
clarifying the spread of water allocations purchased within the week. Just to
clarify that, member, I do not think we will be naming names, but we will
certainly detail the size of allocations within particular size bands. We
understand that some farmers did not take up the opportunity at the time the
water was offered because they did not fully understand the scheme. We have
asked the co-operative to consider how they might be accommodated.
(2) There are
currently six member–directors on the co-operative board, all of whom
are water purchasers under the scheme.