Draft Barossa Water Allocation Plan Amendment

Livestock SA appreciates the opportunity to comment on the Draft Barossa Water Allocation Plan Amendment. While supporting a science-based, adaptive approach to water management, the submission stresses that the plan must remain practical, equitable, and aligned with animal welfare obligations. Concerns include potential reductions in stock and domestic water access, high compliance costs for infrastructure retrofits, and inconsistent regulation across prescribed areas. Livestock SA calls for safeguards to maintain water reliability for livestock, cost-sharing for new requirements, and integration of socio-economic impacts into the plan’s monitoring framework. The organisation supports voluntary environmental partnerships and urges ongoing consultation to ensure resilience and viability for livestock enterprises under changing climatic conditions.

Key Recommendations

• Animal Welfare Safeguard: Guarantee uninterrupted stock-water access under all allocation tiers and drought contingencies.
• Primary-Production Runoff Exemption: Exempt roof and yard runoff used for livestock watering from licensing requirements.
• Streamlined WAA Permitting: Introduce simplified, low-cost processes for minor stock and domestic works.
• Grandfather Existing Uses: Protect current dams, bores, and diversions from retrospective compliance obligations.
• Implementation Transition: Allow at least 12 months for compliance and provide cost-sharing mechanisms (grants, rebates, tax offsets).
• Socio-Economic Monitoring: Include producer impact indicators in the MERI framework to track economic effects.
• Ongoing Consultation: Establish co-design processes with industry for practical implementation and cost-benefit analysis.